#dat's my bread

[asordidbarwere]

medieval peasant brain making me have sourdough bread & butter for dinner

[fryingpanlord]

bucket and a loaf of bread....wonder what they have to do with each other

[themightythornicus]

I’ve been feeling like shit for several days due to illness but I did some organizing today and I just took a v nice shower and now it’s WIGGLE TIME BABY!!!!

[liquid-pride]

Never posted pictures of my little baby boy before 🥺 but he’s super cute and deserves acknowledgement! 💝 He is simultaneously the most needy little boy while also being so fickle 😭 But that’s just makes me love my little Claude all the more! 🥹💝

[duachai]

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT - BANG CHAN | STRAY KIDS

Loneliness is such a sad affair, and I can hardly wait to be with you again

♱ PAIRING : BANG CHAN X MALE READER

♱ SYNOPSIS : M/n, a university junior, secretly dates Bang Chan. When the group performs at his campus, their hidden relationship is exposed.

♱ CONTENT WARNING : This writing contains explicit sexual content and mature themes.

♱ AUTHOR'S NOTE : Merry Christmas my lovelies! I can't wait to show you what I have in store next year! I will see you in 2025.

LINKS : Wattpad | Kofi

The sun cast a warm glow over the university lawn, where M/n and his two best friends, Jiho and Minseo, sat cross-legged on the grass. Their lunchboxes laid open, and the air was filled with laughter and the scent of freshly baked bread from a nearby food cart. It was a Thursday afternoon, and the group of friends had just met up for the first time this week for lunch.

“Did you finish Professor Kim’s reading?” Minseo asked, biting into a rice ball.

“Nope, fuck that seriously,” M/n replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “He assigns way too much for one week.”

Minseo hummed. “True dat.”

Jiho, scrolling on his phone, suddenly let out a loud gasp, aggressively slapping M/n’s shoulder in excitement. “Oh my God! No way!”

Both M/n and Minseo turned toward him, startled.

“What, you psycho bitch?” Minseo asked, her curiosity piqued yet annoyed at how loud Jiho was shrieking like he had no home training.

Jiho shoved his phone in their faces, the screen displaying a social media post with bold letters: Surprise! Stray Kids will be performing at Hanseong University today at 3 PM.

M/n froze, his heart leaping into his throat. He quickly schooled his expression, pretending to be indifferent. “That’s cool, I guess,” he said with a shrug, taking a sip of his drink.

“Cool?” Jiho exclaimed, nearly spilling his coffee to slap the back of M/n’s head. “Bitch, are you sick? This is Stray Kids! Do you not understand the seriousness of this ordeal?”

Minseo chuckled. “Ain’t never used ‘ordeal’ in your life, scholar.” Jiho sucked his teeth at Minseo.

M/n forced a smile, his thoughts racing. Why didn’t he tell me? Chan, his boyfriend and the leader of Stray Kids, had conveniently left out this major detail during their last phone call.

“We have to go early!” Jiho said, already packing up his lunch. “I want to get a good spot.”

“I guess I’ll go too,” Minseo added. “M/n, you’re coming, right?”

M/n hesitated. “Uh, yeah, I gotta go to the bathroom first.”

Jiho and Minseo groaned in unison. “Go piss, girl,” Minseo teased.

“We’ll try and save you a seat, but I can’t promise if Seungmin wants it first. Or maybe he can sit in my lap…” Jiho pondered, biting his lip in a weird, horny kinda way.

M/n laughed nervously, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack. “I’ll catch up.”

Quickly, M/n rushed off. His mind was spinning. He wasn’t mad that Chan hadn’t told him, and he understood the need for secrecy, but being blindsided like this made his heart race with anxiety. What if his friends put two and two together? What if someone saw them?

Reaching the side door of the main building, M/n glanced over his shoulder. The campus was alive with energy as students gathered in clusters, buzzing with excitement for the upcoming performance.

Inside, the hallways were quieter, the faint hum of conversation drifting from nearby rooms. M/n spotted a staff member carrying a clipboard and quickly ducked behind a pillar, holding his breath until the coast was clear.

He made his way toward the room labeled Stray Kids in bold black letters on a laminated sign. His hand hesitated on the doorknob before he knocked softly.

“Come in,” came a familiar voice.

M/n stepped inside, shutting the door quickly behind him. The room was small and bustling with energy, racks of clothes lined one wall, and makeup cases were strewn across a long table. But in the middle of it all stood Chan, wearing a casual yet stylish outfit, his hair perfectly styled, and a look of surprise spreading across his face.

“M/n?” Chan crossed the room in two quick strides, his tone a mix of confusion and joy. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” M/n replied, his voice low but tinged with a little nervousness as he looked around at the people passing by. “You didn’t think to warn me you’d be performing at my fuckin’ university? What if we get caught here?”

Chan quickly whisked M/n away, placing his hands on his shoulders and guiding him to a smaller room in the back. This space was more private, with only a counter and a few chairs.

M/n leaned against the dressing room counter with his arms crossed in a pout.

Chan put his hands on both sides of M/n’s hips, his thumbs circling gently on the little bit of exposed skin between his shirt and jeans. “It was supposed to be a surprise. Management didn’t finalize it until yesterday, and I figured you’d find out anyway.”

“Well, surprise,” M/n said, his voice clearly more scared about getting caught than about blaming Chan for not saying anything. “Now I’m here freaking out, trying to make sure none of my friends figure out I’m dating you.”

Chan softened, his hand reaching out to gently touch M/n’s cheek. “Baby, don’t be like that. I didn’t mean to stress you out. I just… wanted to see you.”

M/n sighed, his irritation melting under Chan’s warm gaze. “You’re lucky I like you.”

Chan grinned. “I know.”

Chan’s grin softened as he leaned in closer, his forehead gently pressing against M/n’s. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” M/n felt his heart flutter in his chest, the warmth of Chan’s breath fanning against his lips. Despite his nerves, he couldn’t stop the small smile that crept onto his face.

“You just saw me last week, drama queen.”

Chan chuckled, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “A week feels like forever when it comes to you.”

Before M/n could respond, Chan closed the distance, capturing his lips in a kiss that sent a rush of heat coursing through his body. It started gentle, as if Chan was savoring the moment, but the longing between them quickly took over.

Chan’s hands slid from M/n’s hips to wrap securely around his waist, pulling him closer until their bodies were flush against each other. M/n’s hands found their way to Chan’s chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as he kissed back with equal fervor.

The world outside the small dressing room seemed to melt away. The muffled voices and distant chatter from the hallway faded, leaving only the sound of their breaths and the soft hum of their hearts racing in tandem.

Chan tilted his head, deepening the kiss, his hands roaming up and down M/n’s back in soothing yet possessive strokes. M/n’s resolve crumbled, and he let out a quiet, involuntary whimper against Chan’s lips.

That sound seemed to ignite something in Chan. He pressed M/n back gently against the counter, his lips moving with a desperation that spoke of every moment they’d spent apart. His fingers tangled in M/n’s hair, tilting his head to gain better access, and M/n melted into him completely.

When they finally broke apart for air, their foreheads rested together, both of them breathing heavily. Chan’s gaze was intense, his eyes dark with affection and want.

“I love you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse but steady. “I don’t care where we are or who’s around. I’ll always want to kiss you like that.”

M/n felt his cheeks flush, his hands still clutching Chan’s shirt. “You’re so corny,” he mumbled, but the soft smile on his face betrayed the truth, he loved every second of it.

Chan grinned, his thumb brushing against M/n’s bottom lip. “And you love it.”

M/n didn’t deny it. Instead, he pulled Chan down for another kiss, this one slow and tender, a promise of all the stolen moments they’d share, no matter how complicated their situation might be.

M/n felt the heat rising between them as Chan leaned back into him, his lips finding their way to the corner of M/n’s mouth, then down along his jawline. Each touch sent a spark through M/n, his breath hitching as Chan’s lips traveled to his neck, leaving a trail of featherlight kisses that grew bolder with each press.

“Channie,” M/n whispered that nickname that always made Chan weak, his voice trembling with both urgency and affection.

Chan hummed against his skin, the vibration sending shivers down M/n’s spine. “Hmm?” he murmured, his lips brushing against the sensitive spot just below M/n’s ear.

“You’re going to leave a mark,” M/n warned, though his voice lacked any real conviction.

Chan chuckled softly, the sound low and sultry. “Would that be such a bad thing?” he teased, his hands tightening on M/n’s waist.

M/n pushed at his chest lightly, his cheeks flushed. “Yes, it would! My friends would definitely notice.”

Chan pulled back just enough to look at him, his eyes sparkling with mischief and affection. “Fine, no marks… not right now at least,” he conceded with a cheeky grin, leaning in for another kiss that was slower, deeper, and impossibly more intoxicating.

M/n sighed into the kiss, his hands sliding up to Chan’s shoulders, gripping them tightly as if to anchor himself. Chan tilted his head, his lips moving against M/n’s with a rhythm that felt natural, effortless, like they’d been made for this exact moment.

The kiss grew hungrier, more desperate, as if the limited time they had together only fueled the need to make every second count. Chan’s hands slid down M/n’s back, resting just above his hips as he pressed them even closer together, their bodies fitting like pieces of a puzzle.

M/n felt the counter digging into his back, but he didn’t care. All he could focus on was the way Chan’s lips moved against his, the way his hands explored his body with a careful yet insistent touch, the way his entire being seemed to drown in Chan’s presence.

Their kiss broke only when the need for air became too great, but even then, Chan stayed close, their noses brushing as their breaths mingled.

“I wish we didn’t have to hide,” Chan said softly, his voice tinged with a rare vulnerability.

M/n’s heart clenched at the admission. He reached up to cup Chan’s cheek, his thumb brushing gently against his skin. “Me too,” he admitted. “But as long as I have you, I can deal with the rest.”

Chan smiled, leaning into M/n’s touch. “You’re too good to me.”

“And don’t you forget it,” M/n replied with a teasing grin, though his tone was filled with affection.

Chan chuckled, stealing one last lingering kiss before finally pulling back, though his arms stayed wrapped securely around M/n’s waist. “I guess I should let you go before your friends send out a search party.”

M/n groaned, reluctant to step away. “Yeah, I guess… but this isn’t over.”

Chan smirked, his gaze full of promise. “Not even close.”

M/n reluctantly pulled away, smoothing his shirt and adjusting his glasses as he tried to compose himself. His heart was still racing, and his lips tingled from Chan’s kisses, but he needed to act normal—at least normal enough to fool Jiho and Minseo.

“You’ll be watching, right?” Chan asked, his voice softer now.

M/n hesitated, biting his lip. “I’ll try. Jiho and Minseo are expecting me to sit with them, so I can’t make it obvious.”

Chan nodded, understanding written all over his face. “Just… stay close if you can,” he said, reaching out to squeeze M/n’s hand briefly. “It’ll be nice knowing you’re there.”

M/n smiled despite his nerves. “I’ll be there. Just don’t get too distracted by my handsome face.”

Chan laughed quietly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “No promises.”

With one last lingering glance, M/n slipped out of the makeshift dressing room, carefully closing the door behind him. The hallway was still relatively empty, though the muffled sound of voices and footsteps indicated that students were already gathering for the performance.

M/n took a deep breath, his hand lingering on the doorknob for a moment before he stepped away. He couldn’t afford to look suspicious.

As he walked back toward the outdoor venue, the hum of excitement grew louder. Groups of students were chatting animatedly, and some were already seated near the stage, phones in hand, ready to record every moment.

Spotting Jiho and Minseo wasn’t hard as they were near the middle of the crowd, Jiho waving his arms wildly to flag M/n down.

“There you are!” Jiho exclaimed as M/n approached. “Took you long enough. What, did you fall in?”

“Something like that,” M/n replied with a shrug, slipping into the spot they’d saved for him.

Minseo handed him a bottle of water, her eyes narrowing slightly. “You okay? You look kind of flustered.”

“I’m fine,” M/n said quickly, taking a sip of water to cover his nerves. “It’s just hot out here.”

Jiho fanned himself dramatically with his hand. “Girl, same. But who cares? We’re about to see Stray Kids! Can you believe it? Like, right here! This is history in the making. Maybe our school isn’t so shit after all.”

M/n forced a laugh, his stomach flipping at the thought of seeing Chan on stage while sitting among his friends, who had no idea about their relationship.

As the minutes ticked by, the crowd grew larger, and the excitement became palpable. When the emcee finally took the stage to introduce Stray Kids, the cheers were deafening. M/n felt his pulse quicken as he prepared for what was about to happen.

The lights dimmed slightly, and the opening beats of a familiar song filled the air. Then, there they were… Stray Kids, stepping onto the stage with the kind of confidence and charisma that could command any crowd.

M/n’s eyes immediately found Chan, who stood at the center, his presence magnetic. Chan’s gaze briefly scanned the crowd, and though M/n knew it was impossible for him to pick him out among so many people, he still felt a jolt when their eyes seemed to meet for a split second.

Jiho was screaming next to him, clutching Minseo’s arm in excitement. “Oh my God, look at Bang Chan! He’s so fucking hot!”

M/n bit his lip to suppress a smile, his cheeks heating up. If only Jiho knew.

As the performance continued, M/n couldn’t help but admire Chan. He was in his element, his movements fluid and precise, his voice commanding and powerful. It was a side of him M/n didn’t often get to see up close, and it made him fall for him all over again.

But amidst the thrill of the performance, M/n couldn’t shake the anxiety bubbling under the surface. What if someone noticed the way Chan looked at him? What if someone figured out their connection?

He forced himself to focus on the music, clapping and cheering along with his friends. For now, he just had to get through the show without raising any suspicion.

The campus was still buzzing with excitement from Stray Kids’ performance. Students milled about in groups, their chatter echoing across the quad. M/n kept his head down, weaving through the crowd as casually as he could. His heart pounded in his chest, not from excitement but from nerves.

When he reached the side gate leading to the quiet garden behind the art building, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching. The garden was one of the most secluded spots on campus, a hidden oasis with benches tucked under canopies of leafy trees.

Chan was already there, leaning against the trunk of a tree, his hoodie pulled low over his face. Even in the dim light, M/n could see the tension in his posture.

“Chan,” M/n called softly, stepping closer.

Chan’s head snapped up, and a relieved smile broke across his face. “M/n.”

Before M/n could say anything, Chan closed the distance between them, pulling him into a tight hug. The world seemed to fade away as Chan’s familiar warmth surrounded him, grounding him in the moment.

“That was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life,” Chan murmured against M/n’s hair. “I don’t like pretending I don’t know you.”

M/n pulled back just enough to look up at him, his brows furrowed. “It was just for a moment, we’re all good now”

Chan cupped M/n’s face in his hands, his thumbs brushing gently over his cheeks. “I know. I didn’t think it through, and I’m sorry. I just… wanted to see you. It’s been weeks, and when this opportunity came up, I couldn’t pass it up.”

M/n sighed, his irritation softening under Chan’s earnest gaze. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

Chan chuckled softly. “I’ve been told.”

For a moment, they stood there in the quiet garden, the distant hum of campus life fading into the background. Chan’s hands slid down to M/n’s shoulders, his touch light but grounding.

“I missed you,” Chan admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

M/n’s heart softened. He reached up, his hand resting over Chan’s on his shoulder. “I missed you too.”

Chan leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to M/n’s forehead, lingering there for a moment. “You’ve been on my mind every day,” he murmured. “I know this isn’t easy for you, but I’m grateful. For you, for us.”

M/n felt a lump rise in his throat. He tilted his head to meet Chan’s gaze, his lips twitching into a small smile. “Just… don’t surprise me like this again, okay?”

Chan grinned, his dimples showing even in the low light. “Promise. No more surprises.”

They shared a soft laugh, the tension melting away as the moment stretched between them. M/n felt a sense of calm wash over him, the chaos of the day fading into the background.

“Stay for a bit?” Chan asked, his voice hopeful.

M/n glanced toward the path leading back to the main campus, then back at Chan. “A little longer,” he said, his voice quiet but sure.

And for the first time that day, M/n allowed himself to relax, leaning into Chan’s embrace as the world outside the garden faded away. The peaceful silence of the garden was abruptly shattered by the sound of approaching voices. M/n froze, his heart skipping a beat as he recognized the unmistakable laughter of Minseo and Jiho.

“Didn’t you say you saw him come this way?” Jiho’s voice rang out, closer than M/n would have liked.

“I swear he’s hiding something,” Minseo replied. “He bolted like his ass was on fire.”

Chan tensed, his hands still on M/n’s shoulders. “Who is that?” he whispered.

“My friends,” M/n hissed, panic lacing his voice. He grabbed Chan’s arm, pulling him toward a thicker cluster of trees. “Hide!”

But before they could move far, Minseo’s sharp eyes caught them. “M/n? Is that you?”

M/n’s stomach dropped as both Minseo and Jiho rounded the corner of the garden path, their expressions shifting from confusion to wide-eyed shock.

“M/n,” Jiho started, his gaze flicking between M/n and the man standing too close to him. “Why does that guy look exactly like—”

“Bang Chan?!” Minseo practically shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger.

M/n’s brain short-circuited as he stood frozen, caught red-handed. Chan, to his credit, didn’t flinch. Instead, he straightened up and offered a sheepish smile.

“Uh, hi,” Chan said, scratching the back of his neck.

Jiho gawked at him, his jaw practically on the ground. “What the fuck is happening right now?!”

Minseo’s eyes narrowed, zeroing in on M/n. “You’ve been sneaking around with Bang Chan? THE Bang Chan?!”

“I—uh—” M/n stammered, his face burning.

“Wait, are you two like… dating?” Jiho asked, his voice a mix of disbelief and giddy excitement.

M/n opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He felt like a deer caught in headlights.

Chan stepped in, his voice calm and steady. “Yes. We are.”

Minseo’s jaw dropped. Jiho let out an audible gasp, covering his mouth like he’d just heard the juiciest gossip of the year.

“You mean to tell me,” Minseo started, her hands on her hips, “that you’ve been dating Bang Chan this whole time, and you didn’t say a damn word?”

“It’s complicated,” M/n mumbled, avoiding their gazes.

Jiho burst into laughter, startling everyone. “Complicated? That’s the understatement of the century! Dude, you’re dating a literal K-pop idol!”

Minseo, on the other hand, was still processing. “I’m just mad you didn’t tell us. We’re your best friends, M/n.”

“I couldn’t,” M/n said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s not just my secret to tell.”

Minseo softened slightly, her expression shifting from anger to understanding. “I get it. But you should’ve trusted us.”

Chan stepped closer to M/n, his hand brushing against his arm in silent reassurance. “I asked him to keep it private,” he explained. “We’re trying to protect what we have. It’s not easy with my career.”

Jiho looked at them both, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “You know what? I ship it. Power couple vibes. But you owe us details, M/n.”

Minseo rolled her eyes but smiled. “Fine. But don’t think you’re off the hook. We’re having a long talk about this later.”

M/n exhaled in relief, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Thanks, guys.”

Minseo nodded. “Just… be careful. And Chan? You better treat him right.”

Chan grinned, his dimples on full display. “Always.”

The tension eased as the group exchanged a few more words, and M/n realized that while his secret was out, maybe it wasn’t the worst thing after all.

As Minseo and Jiho walked off, their voices fading into the distance, M/n let out a long, exasperated sigh, leaning against the tree. He covered his face with his hands, his ears still burning from embarrassment.

“That was awkward,” M/n muttered.

Chan chuckled softly, stepping closer and nudging M/n’s shoulder. “Awkward, sure, but your friends are pretty great.”

M/n peeked at him through his fingers. “Great? Jiho almost fainted, and Minseo was ready to kill me.”

Chan grinned, his dimples making a playful appearance. “Yeah, but they care about you. That much is obvious. And I like that about them.”

M/n lowered his hands, a reluctant smile creeping onto his face. “You’re just saying that because they didn’t hate your guts.”

“Maybe.” Chan’s voice softened, his eyes locking onto M/n’s. His expression shifted, the playful glint replaced with something deeper, more tender. “But seriously, they’re good people. And they love you.”

M/n felt his heart flutter under Chan’s gaze, the intensity of it making his stomach flip. He looked away, biting his lip to suppress a shy grin.

Chan tilted his head, stepping even closer until their faces were mere inches apart. His hand reached out, brushing a strand of hair from M/n’s forehead. “Well, since we don’t have to hide anymore…”

M/n barely had time to process the words before Chan leaned in, capturing his lips in a slow, deliberate kiss. Unlike before, this wasn’t rushed or frantic. It was deep and consuming, filled with all the emotions they’d had to suppress for so long.

Chan’s hands found M/n’s waist, pulling him closer, while M/n’s fingers instinctively gripped the front of Chan’s hoodie. The world around them melted away—the garden, the university, the lingering nerves—all replaced by the warmth of each other.

M/n sighed into the kiss, his body relaxing as he leaned into Chan. He felt the gentle pressure of Chan’s hands sliding up his back, holding him securely as if he never wanted to let go.

When they finally broke apart, both were slightly breathless, their foreheads resting together. Chan smiled, his thumb gently stroking M/n’s side. “I’ve been wanting to do that without worrying who’s watching.”

M/n laughed softly, his voice shaky but filled with warmth. “That’s gonna take some getting used to.”

Chan’s grin widened. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”

M/n nodded, his cheeks flushed but his heart full. “Together.”

They stood there for a moment longer, lost in their own little world, before the sound of distant chatter reminded them of where they were.

Chan smirked, taking M/n’s hand in his. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before your friends come back for round two.”

M/n rolled his eyes but didn’t let go of Chan’s hand, following him out of the garden with a newfound sense of freedom.

[pinkanonwrites]

Repaying The Favor

G1 Rumble/ Mechanic Reader - 4600+ words NSFW, Valveplug, Miscommunication, First Time, Oral Sex, AFAB Reader - They/Them Pronouns for reader

The sequel to "Oh! That's What That Does?!" is finally here! Same reader, same Rumble, same trying to figure each other out, only this time they get to slam down crazy-style about it. When will Frenzy get his turn in the spotlight? Eventually, I think! Maybe once I've finished a few other pet projects.

NSFW WRITING BELOW THE CUT!

It had been exactly fifteen days since you had last heard from Rumble. 

Not that you’d been counting.

Sure, the cassettes probably had more important things to do than lounge around your workshop waiting for your attention, but that's exactly why it was so odd. They always had better things to do, things that they were pointedly avoiding doing by barging in on your work and taking up what little free space the shop had remaining. But since your little tryst with Rumble, you hadn't seen armor nor optic of any of the usual cassette bot suspects.

Maybe you'd broken some sort of ancient, space robot taboo that you'd never heard of. Or maybe Rumble was just embarrassed that he jizzed all over your jumpsuit. Either way, it wasn't like you had any way of getting ahold of them besides them dropping in, so there wasn't much to be done about the situation but wait.

You were leaving the corner store when you heard it, the cacophonous boom of a jet flying far too close to the tips of the skyscrapers overhead. The sound sent you reeling, bags crumpling to the sidewalk as you hurried to cover your ears. Down the street you could make out the screech of metal smacking against metal, see the flailing limbs of two massive robots staggering clumsily through the street as they traded blows with each other. Neither of them were one you recognized, the red Autobot with the oversized chest window wrestling one of the identical jet Decepticons into a clumsy headlock. As they stumbled about one of them trampled on a car parked along the curb, and you winced as the metal shrieked and crumpled under his massive foot.

Yeah, time to get out of here. You gathered up your bags and ducked into the alley between the buildings, slipping past trash bags and old graffiti, trying not to tread in any unidentifiable puddles. Off in the distance you could hear an emergency siren start to wail, hopefully signaling that whatever the space robots were quarreling over this time would be settled sooner rather than later. All you really wanted was to get back home without any further interruptions.

But as you emerged from the back alley entrance and found yourself hoisted into the air by two massive metal hands around your waist, you'd decided to kiss that chance goodbye. Your bags clattered to the ground once more, bread and fruit and canned goods spilling out around a familiar pair of pedes. When you glanced up to his faceplate, the glow of his visor was nearly enough to blind you.

“Rumble?!”

His visor dimmed enough that you could see his intake, which had just before been pulled into a maniacal grin, drop open in visible shock. Then, as quick as it came, it was gone, replaced instead with a tight, furrowed frown. 

“What’re you doin’ out here?” He barked.

“Buying food. Or trying to, at least.” You glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Ravage pounce on that yellow Autobot with the horns that was always showing up in the news. “You guys having a little play date or something?”

He scoffed out a laugh, quickly stifling it with a clearing of his vents. “Whatsit matter to ya? Didn't think you cared dat much about lil’ old me.”

“Rumble, what…?” Was he seriously pouting? Or maybe trying to guilt trip you? For what, making him cum? “What are you even talking about? I haven't seen you in like, two weeks.”

“Aww, real funny! You know what I mean! I let you poke around in my chassis and run up my charge, an’ after that it's radio silence? Whaddya humans call it… ghosting? Make a mech feel like second-rate shareware, why don't ya?”

You blinked at him once, twice, mind spinning as you tried to process his words.

“Are you- are you mad I didn't call you?”

His optic lights beamed as he bristled, armor flaring with a hiss before clamping tight back to his frame. “I told you to comm me!”

“Rumble, I don't have your number! I couldn't call you even if I wanted to!”

His grip went slightly slack as he stared at you, leaving you dangling from your armpits like a cat. 

“I… I hailed you my frequency. In da EM field.”

“Humans don't have… whatever that is. Do you have a phone number?”

He stared at you again, much longer this time as the discordant crashing of giant metal men continued in the background. Then, with a sudden jolt, you were slipping free of his fingers as he dropped you unceremoniously to the pavement. It wasn't a far fall, just enough to make your feet tingle upon landing. When you looked up you saw he had both servos covering his faceplate, a string of muffled curses eking out between the digits.

Your mind was reeling. He actually wanted you to call him? To… repay the favor? Heat pooled in the pit if your stomach as your mind conjured up wicked memories of his stifled gasps and whimpers, how he’d squirmed beneath you as you prodded around his spark chamber. How behind all the billowing and smashing and Brooklyn-accented bravado, when you got down to the core of him, he was actually kind of… cute.

“You- just- I don’t- Get outta here! Go on, scram! Before you get stomped on or somethin’!” His face plate was flushed and glowing as he shooed at you. You would go, that was certain, you really didn't want to get stepped on after all. But first you were going to say something potentially risky, deeply embarrassing, and undoubtedly very, very stupid.

“Come over.”

His optics shuttered, flickering for a moment as he stared down at you, frozen.

“What?”

“Not right now. Tonight. When you guys are done getting wailed on? Come over.”

He opened his intake, then closed it. When he opened it a second time you caught a wisp of steam slipping through the gap in his dentae. He swallowed, hard. He never stopped staring at you.

“...Y-Yeah. Yeah. Awright. I'll be there.”

“Cool. Watch out for the yellow guy.”

“Huh-HGGRRK!?!” You stumbled back a few steps just in time for the Autobot to chuck Ravage directly into Rumble’s helm, sending him crashing into the brick wall beside you.

“Sorry! Are you alright?” The little Autobot called. “You should probably get out of here!”

He didn't have to tell you twice.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The news was just wrapping up their coverage on the ‘latest Decepticon assault’ when you heard a rap on your warehouse’s roll-up door. There wasn't much to see peering out the window, the street only haphazardly illuminated by old street lights. Not that you really needed to look, there was only one guest you were expecting at this time of night anyway. 

You'd stopped at home first, mainly to take a shower and put on something that wasn’t a pair of mechanic’s overalls. But for some reason the nerves hadn't hit you until right now. You clamped down on the prickle of… anxiety? Excitement? Somewhere between the two? As you pulled the strap at the base of the roll-up, the groan of shifting metal slowly gave way to reveal…

“Are you wearing a bowtie?”

“Not bad, eh? Don't say I never cleaned up or nothin’. Here.” As Rumble stepped from the dark street into the light of the warehouse he pulled something from his subspace: a large, green bottle that he offered to you pinched between two fingers. A bottle of wine. Judging by the label, an expensive bottle of wine.

“Where did you get this?” You turned the bottle over twice in your grip, scanning the details on the back. French Merlot, aged… fifteen years? Holy shit.

“Dat fancy Italian place on the corner of Fourth and Vine! What, ya don't like it?”

“I didn't say that!” Rumble positively beamed as you clutched the bottle. “I just didn't expect it, is all. Are you… wining and dining me right now?”

“Is dat a good thing or a bad thing? Your human movies said you’re ‘sposed to bring a little somethin’ somethin’ before, y’know,” There was a sly, lopsided charm to his grin as he pulled the roll-up back down with his pede, clanking shut behind him, “Before you let me run your charge for a change.”

“You know, you don't have to try so hard to im…press… me.” You trailed off, staring down at the bottle in your hands, then back up to him, then back at the bottle, then him again. When you made eye contact with him the slyness seemed to falter a bit, leaving behind something softer in his smile. Something a little more vulnerable.

 How did it take this long for it to click for you? He was wearing a bowtie, for Christ’s sake. 

“Oh my God you're trying to impress me.”

“Eh?” A fidgeting servo tugged at his bowtie- which appeared to be made of… an old seatbelt? “Nah, you're crazy! Dis is jus’ what humans are ‘sposed to do!”

“Oh my God you are!”

“H-Hey, what'd I say about you and gettin’ big ideas?” He tried to deter you, but your mind was already racing a mile a minute. 

“Do you actually like me? Like, want to date me? Do alien robots even date, cause I didn't know th- MMPH!”

With a massive metal palm pressed to your chest, Rumble pushed you back into your adjustable work table, still sitting at a mostly upright angle from the last time you'd repaired him. The table against your back was cold, a sharp contrast to the radiating heat from his servo as he pinned you in place with his hand. His face was inches from yours as he leaned over you, visor now gleaming with frustration and embarrassment.

“You can't get enough of dis, huh? Like pushin’ my buttons so much?” His servo pinned you down just a touch harder, forcing the air from your lungs in a breathy wheeze. “‘Oh, it's so fun to get Rumble all flustered! Lemme mess wit’ his head a lil more!’ Well maybe it’s Ol’ Rumble’s turn to do da messin’ around, huh? See how you like it when someone’s toyin’ with your sensitive bits.”

He bared his dentae as he spoke, another hiss of steam curling around your cheeks. It made your hair stand on end. A hot thrill ran through you, and you fought the urge to let your knees knock together, confident that Rumble would be able to keep you in place with brute strength alone. You could feel his thumb smoothing back and forth across your shirt, and as he glanced down at his servo the glare of his visor lessened slightly.

“...Why’s your fuel pump goin’ all crazy? You scared or somethin’?”

You swallowed a mouthful of saliva, willing your foggy mind to function. “Not… Not scared, exactly.”

There were a few seconds of tense silence, before the wickedest, prideful grin crept back up across his faceplate. 

“Oh? Is dat so?” His other servo rose to grip the top edge of the table, fingers molding to fit the dent he’d left there previously as he loomed over you. “Well maybe we oughta do somethin’ about tha- SCRAP!”

His flirtations were cut short by the sharp SNAP of the stabilizing lock on your workbench failing under Rumble’s weight and flipping 180 degrees over. The world pitched and spun as you tumbled backwards, yelping as the table flipped and deposited you upside-down on the floor, legs sticking akimbo in the air. From between your dangling feet you could see Rumble peering over you with his sly expression wiped off his visor by one of concern.

“Slag! I didn't crush your little pedes when you flipped, did I? Cause I don't no nothin’ about fixin’ up injured squishies.”

Miraculously, you had managed to make it through that ass-over-elbow fall without hitting your head on anything, or Rumble accidentally pinning your legs in place between his bulk and the table frame. “I’m alright! Just didn't expect it, I’m okay.”

“Dat’s good. Here lemme jus’-” You felt a servo close around each of your ankles. With an effortless tug Rumble dragged you back up, tabletop tipping with you as it clunked back into its standard, flat position. Of course, this now left you with your ass and legs dangling off the edge of the workbench, Rumble standing between them with a servo resting on each knee. “Better?”

You sucked in a breath, trying desperately not to look overeager. “Better.”

“Ah, slaggit all…” But instead of putting his servos back on you (where you most certainly wanted them) Rumble began to scratch at the back of his neck, failing to meet your gaze. “Guess I ain't really cut out for all this… whaddaya call it? ‘Winin’ and dinin’?’ Can't even get my servos on ya without fraggin’ it up.”

“Hey, I’m definitely not complaining.” You attempted a jokey tone, but it didn't seem to do much to dampen Rumble’s current self-deprecation. You let the playful edge fall away as you dropped into something a bit softer. “I mean it though. You don't have to try to impress me. I mean it's appreciated! But, y’know, I wouldn't have agreed to this if I wasn't already happy with the bot I was getting into it with.”

“Heh. Even if I end up crushin’ you a bit?”

“That's a risk I'm willing to take.”

He barked out another laugh, accompanied by a coil of thin steam hissing through his gap-dentae. “Well I guess I better make it worth da risk, shouldn't I?”

He snuck a servo under each of your knees, pushing them apart as he rocked his modesty panel against your clothed core. You stifled a gasp, the ridge of sturdy metal almost hot against you, even through layers of cotton and denim. The slow roll of his hips made your own stutter up off of the table, desperate for further friction.

“Cute. You like grindin’ on my panel? Should I make you bust jus’ like this?”

Despite the warm curl of arousal pooling in your stomach from the feeling, you knew this wouldn't be enough to get you off. Rumble seemed to know it too, letting out a low, pleased chuckle at your desperate expression.

“Jus’ yankin’ yer crankcase, sweetspark. I got somethin’ a lot more fun in mind for tonight anyway. Dat is, if you'll start gettin’ dese off.” He hooked a digit through your belt loop and gave them an experimental tug.

“Mmh, what, you don’t want to take them off yourself?” 

“Oh, I’ll gladly take ‘em off ya. Just figured you’d take care of dis part here…” His thick digits slid inward, ghosting over the button of your jeans. “So I don't gotta rip ‘em off ya instead.”

You weighed your options. On one hand, the image of Rumble tearing denim apart with his bare servos as if it was no more than wet tissue paper was far more appealing to you than you would have originally expected. On the other hand… well, they were new jeans.

“I got it.” You mumbled, quietly filing the image away in your brain for later use as you undid your button and zipper. “Careful with th- Oh!”

With a sharp yank, Rumble tugged your jeans and underwear off your legs and let them crumple onto the floor. Shoving himself into the space between your knees, you could only barely make out the top of his helm over the slope of your stomach as he knelt before you, spreading your folds with two digits and… staring.

You waited for a response, a quip, the slow drag of metal over your slick hole, but were instead greeted with silence. Something prickled in the pit of your stomach as you fought the urge to squirm. In the back of your mind you vaguely remembered that you hadn't really gotten to see what Rumble was packing, and only now were you grappling with the truth that you were trying to have sex with a truly alien being. Would your bodies even be compatible? Was he weirded out right now? You tried to pull your knees together, only to be stopped by a rough servo shoving them back open.

“...It's rude to stare.” You muttered.

“EY! I ain't starin’! I'm, uh, admirin’. Dat’s it.” There was a similar tightness to Rumble’s voice. You shuddered as a thumb stroked the crease of your thigh. “Soft… An’ it's supposed to be dat pink?”

“Y-Yeah… that's, mmh, normal.” You shuddered at a wave of steam curling over your sensitive heat as he spread you again, visor locked on your twitching entrance.

“Primus. And you're really gonna let me spike ya in this tiny little hole?” You could feel his thumb just brushing the rim and stifled a groan at the sudden, aching emptiness, the demand to be filled. “I don't wanna tear you in half or nothin’.”

“It’ll fit.” You whined, core tensing around nothing. “We’re, unh, we’re pretty flexible. C’mon, Rumble…” You forced your knees further apart, pushing your hips up into each of Rumble's far-too-light touches. His motor snarled in response, a massive hand gripping the inside of each of your thighs.

“Slag. You're really achin’ for it, aren’tcha?” His voice was lower than you'd ever heard it before, deep and resonant and primal. “But I ain't gonna give it to ya dat easy, doll. Gotta make sure you can take it first.” 

He raised his helm for just a moment, just enough for you to get a peek of his beaming visor and his wicked, gap-toothed grin between your legs. Then he descended, lathing his thick, hot glossa up the length of your cunt. You choked on a gasp, his servos the only thing keeping your hips from rabbiting up off the table. It was hot, his glossa thick and sturdy and drooling with oral lubricant, a thin layer of silicon over sturdier metal mesh dragging up through your folds.

“Easy, sweetspark…” You weren't the only one enjoying themselves. Rumble's low, rattling groan pulsed through your cunt. You swore you could just barely make out him groaning your name but it was lost, muffled as he pressed his faceplate further between your legs and his servos shivered where they gripped your thighs. He was messy and all too eager, arousal and oral lubricant spilling down his chin as his glossa stroked you; slow, deliberate drags up your folds until you were left dripping. At the apex he found your clit and took it between his dermas, a teasing hum rattling throughout his engine that had you gasping, thighs clenching around his thick helm. Your legs jerked as warmth bloomed outward from your core, hips writhing against the onslaught of pleasure. Dragging across his back your heel caught in a rounded divot, pulling a raggedy vent through Rumble’s dentae as his frame twitched.

“”Mmpfh!~ E-Ey, watch da spindle. It’s sensitive in dere…” He groaned, face still pressed into your cunt, servos only dragging your ass further off the table in his efforts to get somehow even closer to you. But instead you dug your heel in harder, pressing into the ridged divot and twisting your leg. The internal ring jerked with a sudden CLICK CLICK CLICK, each pop of noise making Rumble’s frame spasm like he'd just been electrocuted. “FRAG! Primus, that’s- ghh!~”

“Feel good?” You teased, breathless. His optics beamed back up at you, an oscillating, glistening red as you caught another peek of his gap-toothed grin from between your legs.

“So dat’s how you wanna play dis? Don't say I didn't warn ya, doll.” 

You barely had a chance to respond before the noise was punched out of your lungs in a sharp whine as Rumble shoved a thick, metal digit into your drooling cunt. Achingly hard, unrelenting, he flexed it against your rippling walls as his dermas nestled themselves snugly around your clit. The hum reverberating through his frame coursed through your body like a wave, hands scrabbling desperately at his helm as the twinge of pain at the sudden intrusion melted into thick, syrupy pleasure. 

“A-ah, fuck! Rumble, Rumble that's good, that's fucking good.~” Metal clanged as you lolled your head back against the table top, no longer able to keep it upright. Each drag of his digit, textured and ridged and unrelenting, sparked euphoria behind your eyelids. You felt every muscle in your body starting to prickle with pleasure, radiating outwards from your cunt and pooling in your head, your stomach, the tips of your toes…

You all but whined when he drew his digit away, dermas releasing your swollen clit with a slick pop. “C’mon! Rumble!”

“You want it dat bad, huh?” A shadow cast over your rumpled form as Rumble rose to his full height. From between your legs you could catch a glimpse of silver and blue panels fluttering and folding away, one of Rumble’s servos hiking the underside of your knee and the other stroking the gap between his thigh and pelvic armor as his spike rose to full attention. Christ, he was huge, the thick metal rod draped across your lower stomach as he rocked experimentally against you. Each thrust had the tip drooling a translucent, pinkish fluid you remembered scrubbing from the back of your jumpsuit, hot and vaguely smelling of well-oiled machinery and pooling across your bare stomach.

Rumble, for his part, seemed to be as entranced as you felt, visor vibrant and flickering as he stared down at the place his frame rubbed against your soft, supple body. A harsh ex-vent punctuated each roll of his hips, steam coiling around the corners of his slack, open intake as he pulled back, letting the tip of his spike slide wetly through your folds.

“Dat’s it, doll… You're gonna get exactly what you want. Gonna get you bouncin’ on dis spike, jus’ beggin’ for it…” His tone was low, entranced, just barely tinged with desperation. He dragged his tip through your folds again, and again, covering your cunt with his thick transfluid, making your breath hitch whenever he slid over your clit just right. You angled your hips up, guiding it right over your entrance, toes curling at the promise of pressure. 

But before you could utter his name again, or any other placation or demand, you felt the heavy press, the slow, aching slide as he entered you. It teetered just on the edge of pain, muscles twinging at your inner thighs as you forced your legs wider to accommodate his bulky armor. And his spike offered just as little give, covered with a thin layer of silicon like his glossa but still distinctly sturdy, inflexible metal. Your walls rippled helplessly around the intrusion, stretched to a delicious degree as he bullied his way inside you.

About halfway to being fully sheathed in your heat he paused, visor hazy and unfocused, intake still hanging open as he vented steam. A servo was resting on each of your hips, but while one stayed in place the other slid up, up, bunching your shirt around his digits and shoving it up above your chest. There his servo paused on your side, his massive thumb stroking back and forth over your nipple, quickly pebbling under the cool metal.

“Primus.” He breathed, distinctly softer than you ever remember hearing him before (and oh, if that didn't do just as much for your arousal as everything else). Finally, his hips began to move again, that intoxicating ache only beginning to border on near-unbearable when you could feel your ass and the backs of your thighs smushed against his pelvic armor. For another moment he paused, one servo cradling your hip and the other your chest.

Then he drew back, and thrust home.

The first thrust forced the air out of you in a desperate, sharp wheeze. This didn’t slow him, not in the slightest, digits sinking into the plush meat of your hip as he jackhammered into you. Each thrust had the entire table rattling, the sharp clang of metal against metal where his thighs hit the dented table’s edge. His quiet reverence had given way to an onslaught of erotic babble, visor locked on your face as it twisted and furrowed in pleasure.

“Takin’ it so fraggin well… You’re just made for takin’ my spike, aren’tcha?” He scooped his servo under your hip and lifted you further up, all but folding you in half as he loomed over you. His dermas brushed the curve of your jaw, just below your ear, and you could feel the heat of his ex-vent making your skin tingle. “You’ve jus’ been waitin’ for me to frag you stupid, plug up that achin’ valve til you can’t think of nothin’ else.”

“Mmmh…~ It’s so big.” You slurred, thighs slick with sweat and slipping on his plating as you struggled to lock your ankles in the small of his back. His frame shivered like an electric current ran through it, clutching you somehow even closer to his massive chassis.

“Nghh…~ Yeah? You love dis fat spike, don’tcha? Say it.”

“I love it!~”

“You want me to spill my load in this tight little valve, don’tcha?”

“Please!”

“Aghh, slag! Y-You’re gonna get it, sweetspark. You’re gonna take it all, j-just-mmfh!~” His vents were ragged and desperate, thrusts stuttering as he neared his release. You squealed as his thumb found your clit, rubbing the swollen bud in rough, tight circles. Euphoria was buzzing throughout your body, the ache of your lower back buried beneath the onslaught of pleasure and heat coiling in the pit of your stomach and blooming out through your limbs, legs shaking, hands trembling.

Sparks exploded behind your eyelids as your orgasm washed over you, hips jerking weakly against Rumble’s. There was no give to his spike at all, thick and steady and unyielding as your pussy squeezed and pulsed around it. You felt a flood of something molten spill into your core, filling you nearly to the point of aching as it spilled out around the tight ring of your hole around his base. Rumble’s frame stuttered, jittering, a harsh crackle of static and mechanical chatter pouring from his drooling intake where it was still buried in the crook of your neck. Finally, finally, his frame grew still. The only noise between the two of you were your shared, harsh breaths and the low churn of the occasional car driving past outside.

“Mmmmnnghh…” Rumble groaned, shifting his hips to pull his shrinking spike from your core as he rose unsteadily back to an upright position. You could feel transfluid dribbling from your hole as he tucked himself back away- thick, translucent globs spilling down the insides of your thighs and hitting the floor with a splatter. His engine gave a little, stuttering snarl despite himself as he dragged his digit tips through the shimmering line along one of your inner thighs. “I oughta take a picture of dis…”

“Don’t you dare.” You kicked weakly at his servo, legs now tingling with static as blood rushed back to them. He barked out a sharp laugh, effortlessly batting your foot aside. His servo rested atop your lower stomach and gave a teasing press, and you shivered as more globs of thick transfluid drooled from your cunt. “Jerk.”

“Eyy, you love it!”

“Unfortunately.” There was no real bite to your tone, you could tell by the way Rumble grinned. “Think you can give me a hand getting over to the bathroom before my knees give out?”

“Depends. Does dat count as you owin’ me a favor?”

[charles-leclerizz]

🏎️ ๋࣭ ⭑ cat-quette

🏁 Pairings : Max vertsappen X fem! Reader

🏁 Warnings : fluffy as hell, suggestive language and one suggestive scene.

🏁 Word Count : 2.7k words (2742 words)

🏁 Summary : Sometimes, a family of 4 needs just one more addition, so you and your boyfriend venture out to find the perfect new daughter

🏁 translations via radio comm below

🏁 credits : word dividers by @gigittamic

🏁 Music player : Winter blossom by Dept, Ashley blossom, nobody like you pat

“Come on Maxie, please” You draw at the syllable at the end of your plea, dancing in your spot in your shared kitchen, “Imagine it, you, me, jimmy, sassy and a third cat, we could name it, kibble or something.”

Max looked at you with a worried expression, one brow arched in questioning, “Kibble?” He continued to knead the bread dough in front of him, slamming his hands into the mixture that sat fluffy and aerated on your marble counter, “You just demonstrated why we can’t get a third cat, you’re gonna make it depressed in the first 2 days.”

“Now that’s mean.” You cross your arms over and harrumph, going over to the stove to stir the searing vegetables in the pan.

Out of the corner of your eye you see him wash his hands free of the dough that remained on his fingers before going back to the olive oil doused ball and placing it into a wooden bowl, he then laid a fresh white cloth over the dough and transferred it into the fridge for it to rise for about 40 minutes.

You then felt his presence behind you, then you felt his hands snake around your waist and then his head followed suit, nuzzling into your neck before placing a soft kiss on your skin, “I’m sorry schat.” He mumbled, tickling your ear with his soft tufts of blonde hair.

“Y’know,” You paused briefly in between your enraged sauteing, stainless steel spatula in the air, “I don’t think you are.”

“But I reeeaaallly am.” He copied your elongated whine, shifting the two of you by guiding you side to side, oscillating gently as though you were the dough and he was trying to knead the forgiveness out of you, “How about this..” he started, laughing inwardly when your ears perked up and you attempted to discreetly turn off the gas so you could spin in his hold. Looping your arms around his neck you prompted him to continue, “We could go to the pet shop tomorrow.” He murmured, looking up into the air, despite your vice like grip on his head as though the particles would answer him and not your already giddy form in front of him.

“Yeah?” You danced slightly in his hold, wiggling your hips like a hyper child, “You promise?”

“You can drive pista if I forget.” He nodded solemnly.

“Oh shit-“ You lean back, impressed with his dedication, “You really are sorry”

“dat is alles wat nodig is?” He blubbers, eyes wide for dramatic effect, as you would like to call it, “Your standards are low, real low my love.”

You furrow your brows, playfully hitting the underside of his head before leaning up to kiss his grimaced lips, "What else is new? How else do you think this happened?” You gestured between the two of you.

Max hummed, leaning down to kiss your cheek before trailing down to your jaw, he grinned against you when your breath hitched and you pulled him closer, if that was possible, “I wooed you?” He tried; you snorted in response.

“Yeah, you wooed the heck out of me, yee old Maximillian Verstappen, one foul scowl at me and bam four years later here we are.”

You yelped when he bit your neck.

“Hmm, I’m just so so handsome?” He couldn’t hold his laugh back at this claim.

“I first met you when you were a scrawny 18-year-old, but yes, you are very handsome.” you coo at him whilst caressing his face.

Max hummed in agreement, “I know.”

“You’re not going to compliment me?” You asked.

“Hmm…nope.” He shrugged.

You gaped at him for a beat before lunging at his face and taking the soft skin of his cheek between your teeth, holding it there and growling playfully. Max yelped and laughed at your pseudo-attack before pushing you away and taking your lips captive with his as revenge, “You’re much prettier than me geliefde.” He added before his tongue slipped between your lips.

“Max... the food” You helplessly remind him when he finally detaches from you, only to lift you into his arms and move to the left to sit you down onto the counter, slotting himself in between your pliantly open thighs you draw him closer despite your objections.

“Fuck the food...” He murmurs against your ear, kissing behind it and trailing his mouth lower and lower until he reached your baby blue, silk camisole. Max looks up at you briefly, his bottom lip just barely breaching the collar of your flowy top, you stare down at him eyes heavy and threatening to flutter closed with every hot breath of his that fanned over your chest.

You bring one hand away from his neck to drag down his face, your middle finger just barely anchored on his mouth, pulling down his lip until he stopped your journey south and took the soft digit into his mouth, “Yeah, that sounds fair.” You breathed out, already jumping back into his embrace, preparing yourself to slam the bedroom door closed with a breathless laugh.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” You ask him, plugging in your hairdryer and drawing out a large barrelled round brush from the containers that sat on your counter. The bathroom door was wide open as you waited expectantly for Max to emerge from the walk-in closet on the opposite side of the room, the only divider being your bed and a half-length wall.

“What? What did I forget?” Your boyfriend looked down at his phone, waiting for a calendar event to remind him, when that didn’t happen, he looked up at you.

You remained still, just flicking on the contraption in your hands and drowning out his obliviousness with the sound of luke-warm air drying your hair.

“Babe?” he tried once.

“Babe?” He tried again.

“Babe?”

You finally snapped, large brush still wrapped in your hair as your hand pressed your silky strands into the bristles and hair sprayed the volume into it, “Max, you’re shitting me, right? That’s it, keys to the pista.” You ordered, tapping your nail against the counter space next to you.

That’s when the realisation hit the driver in front of you, his face blanched and he rushed up to you, “See, I didn’t forget I conveniently played stupid?” He tried; eyes slightly lit up with hope.

“You’re right-“ You start, snorting at the badly veiled victorious expression on his face, “You are stupid.”

By this point, Max had reached the threshold of the bathroom and had slumped forward, the only thing stopping him from face-planting the expensive tiled floor were his hands braced on the doorframe, “Not the pista, baby, anything else.”

“What about one of your Aston Martins ?,” You faced him, tearing your eyes away from your reflection in the large mirror ahead.

Max’s face fell at the mention of his beloved collection of Aston’s, “Okay, so maybe we take the Pista…”

You pouted at him, swiping on a generous amount of pink lip-gloss, “I knew I should’ve been on top last night.”

The rollers in your hair fell one by one as you undid them, smiling cheekily to yourself when Max choked on his own spit, “What’s that meant to mean?”

“Don’t ask questions, that you don’t want to know the answers to.” You pass by him in the doorway, pinching his cheeks together and pecking him quickly on his duck-lips.

“So it’s the Pista?” He hollered from his place, craning his neck to where you had turned into the closet.

He heard you snort, and the rustling of fabric before you answered him, “It’s the most expensive Aston Martin you own!”

You ended up taking the pista.

But your resignation was soon vindicated when you broke the speed limits the whole drive from your apartment to the best pet store in the city.

“Heer, red mij” Max prayed, hand braced on the ceiling of the sports car as your heeled foot pressed even harder onto the accelerator, the car purred happily whilst you cruised along the mountain road, the view of the crashing waves almost therapeutic, until the serene scene was broken with a-

“BEN JE NET 150 KM/U BREKEN? HOE?” A shaky finger followed promptly afterwards, tapping the speedometer a few times.

You blow a nonchalant breath through your lips, “You’re a formula one driver Maxie, why are you so scared?”

“We don’t normally drive like hooligans, it’s precise and practise-“

You interrupted his rant by miraculously increasing your pace and speeding down the empty highway ahead, Max slammed one hand against the window as an ungodly screech erupted from the 3-time world champion.

Safe to say, you arrived at the pet store in a safe condition.

Never mind that Max had rushed out of the passenger’s seat to press a kiss to the hood of the car, before running to a few nearby bushes and attempting to uproot his breakfast.

Though, with no such luck of evacuating the contents of his stomach, he waddled over to where you stood unimpressed albeit also concerned to knit your hands together, pecking your forehead a few times he allowed you to guide him into the shop.

“Oh my god Maxie, look!” You squealed, rushing up to the large glass display of a dozen or so hamsters, the various coloured furballs rolled around the spacious enclosure as you cooed down at them.

Max bent down as well, but soon caught eye of the “HALF OFF” sign and stood straight, “’M not sure geliefde, maybe not hamsters, jimmy, and sassy like the taste of em.”

You nodded once, wrenching your gaze away from one of the hamsters that you had already grown fond off to hold your boyfriend’s hand once more, “You could be less crude about it.” You mumble inwardly.

“You’re telling me, about being crude.” He scoffed down at you before looping his arms around your neck and tucking you into his side.

The pair of you continued to walk around the retail, swerving into and out of isles whilst browsing each selection of pet that could potentially enter your home.

Max had to continuously drag you away from the more exotic selection that there was on display, that was after you had convinced the store clerk to wrap a domestic snake around his neck.

“You look like you’re about to throw up” You giggle, pointing your phone at Max, who’s face had turned an alarming red as the docile snake snuggled up to his thick neck.

“I’m about to faint, no shit right now, this is not babygirl schat, this is abuse.” He hissed, quoting what you had said to convince him in the first place, he brought one shaky hand up to pet the reptile, a laboured “shhh” noise escaping the dutchman as though he were coercing the docile animal to not strangle the life out of him.

Luckily, the over-amused store clerk unwrapped the snake from his shoulders before Max simultaneously shit himself and cried.

“Maxie, look” You rushed over to another enclosure, this time, it was a large area on the floor walled off with pet gates, plush pillows were propped up against the black grate along with tumultuous cat toys spread across the floor. Luckily, to match the mess, there were at least 15 kittens, all different breeds, some were sleeping on their tummies, fluffy eyes closed as their four limbs spread out oddly whilst others were being entertained by other enraptured patrons.

“Hi guys,” You whispered, tucking your skirt beneath your thighs as your crouched down again, coming eye to eye with the adorable animals, “You’re so cute,” Max had joined you promptly, hitching up his jeans as he lowered himself next to you, large blue eyes following the cats.

A worker noticed the two of you and left their previous customers, a couple, much like yourselves, the two people cuddled a soft brown kitten who nuzzled into their shared embrace.

“Hi! Can I help you?”

You looked up at her, smiling, “My boyfriend and I were looking for a new addition to our family, I would love to bring home one of these guys.” You gestured to the large play pen.

“Well, that’s just lovely! But the cat’s choose you guys, not the other way around.” The middle-aged woman laughed, her olive skin stretching as she unlocked the gate and ushered the two of you in, “That’s how me and my husband got our cat.”

“Oh...” You stood eerily still as multiple odd fluff-balls came and sniffed your heels before trotting away, “What if none of them like me?” You whisper to Max, who already housed at least 3 kittens by his feet, “Nonsense, you just have to be patient darling.” He kissed your cheek and rubbed your arm comfortingly.

After about 10 minutes of you gingerly attempting to welcome a companion into your embrace, a smaller, more fur decadent kitten walked out from behind the small playhouse that sat in the far corner of the enclosure. It cocked its head curiously at you before yawning and shaking its back, and rump, its snow-white fur oscillating with its movements.

“Hi honey,” You whispered, bending down to allow it to clamber sleepily into your lap, you squealed internally, standing up once again with the kitten safely embraced into your arms, its back angled comfortably on your forearms and head rested on your chest whilst it blinked slowly at you, pale green eyes shining happily.

Max grinned serenely at the pair of you, watching as you brought a hand up to rub gently on the pink nose of the animal in your care, “I think you just got chosen.” He laughed quietly, his chin resting on your shoulder as he gazed down at the sleepy cat.

“Her name’s pookie.” You declared giddily as you approached the car, holding out your hand for the keys to the expensive car. Max stared at you, fear evident in his eyes.

“You can name her whatever you want, but you are not driving the car, we have precious cargo now,” He petted pookie behind her ear.

“Fine, come here baby.” You barely pouted, already taking pookie and her small, shell shaped bed into your arms. She rested peacefully in your lap, purring contently as Max hauled the other pink cat care items you had bought, into the back seat.

“So, I just had to buy you a cat?” Max inquired; hand braced on the back of your headrest as he backed out of the parking spot.

You lean over the dash to kiss Max’s stubble covered cheek, “It’s so easy to please me, my love.”

“Well….” He squeaked, looking over at you suggestively.

“You perv,” You smacked his forehead but laughed nonetheless, “There’s children present.”

“So, Max?”

The driver perked up at his name, flipping the microphone in his hand to answer the question, he leaned back against the white sofa where he was joined by a few other of his fellow colleagues all of whom turned to the questioner in the sea of reporters.

“We’ve heard you have a new addition to the family?”

Max laughed into the mic, before adjusting the cap on his head and nodding, “Very true yes, the missus and I just got a new kitten into the house.” He plucked out his phone and held up a photo of you and Pookie, both of whom were turned away from the lens to face the large window showing of the Monaco coastline.

A flurry of ‘awws’ escaped the people present, and Charles who also swooned at the photo spoke into the mic, “Do you guys have a name yet?”

“Kind of, she wanted to name it ‘pookie’ and I just think that when I talk about the kitten, I’ll sound like an idiot, it doesn’t feel right with my accent.”

Charles popped his mouth open, “Wait- you call me pookie?”

Back at home, you had snuggled up to Jimmy and Sassy, both of whom had settled with laying their heads onto each of your legs whilst you held Pookie close to your chest, caressing her cheek, “That’s what you get leclerc.” You snarl at the screen, “Stealing my boyfriend, leaving our children fatherless, you whore.” You joked, filming your commentary to send to Max, who on the television screen was already justifying the similar names between his new daughter, and his work wife.

Pookie blinked up at you, and you swore, that she smiled at your determined face.

📻 Kcccchh.... come in.... come in...translatiion available...over

📻 Kchh...Dutch....to english....over

dat is alles wat nodig is ? - that's all it takes ?

Geliefde - Love [r]

Heer, red mij - Lord, save me

BEN JE NET 150 KM/U BREKEN? HOE? - DID YOU JUST BREAK 150 KPH? HOW?

schat - Darling/Love/Babe [term of endearment]

[ribread03]

Dance Party! M.Sturniolo x Reader

Bread talk: I came up with this idea while writing my Nick Sturniolo head cannons.. so yeah. I hope you like this... A HUGE thank you to @6ix9inewiturmom with helping me pick out songs for this. ILY thank you. Also this is a LOOOONG one.

WC: 2597 [just stick with it]

CW: Smut, cursing, unprotected sex [wrap before you tap], idk what else honestly. let me know if I missed anything important..

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"Don't ya wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" Nick sings loudly with the music.

"Don't ya wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?" You're singing the next line of the song.

"Dont Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls plays loudly in the kitchen of the triplets house. Me and Nick dancing our hearts out not having a care in the world of what we look like to the outside eye.

Dancing and laughing with Nick and you spin around the kitchen, bumping into him every once and a while. Rolling your shoulders to the beat of the song. Moving your hips in a sexual way not thinking about anything but you a Nick.

"I probably be just as crazy about you if you were my old man" Both of you singing this line together. While you point at Nick with your finger.

Laughing as the song ends and the next one comes on. You look over the the couch and see Matt sitting there on his phone. Looking over at Nick you now see Chris behind him.

Cheering as the next song starts because it's one of your favorites. "Get Low" by Lil Jon feat. Ying Yang Twins comes on. You start to sing the song. Getting low when it says to get low still singing.

"Till the sweat drops down my balls!" You sing loudly in the house.

"Let me see you get low you scared you, scared you." Chris now singing the part of the song. Dropping down to the floor at this point you bounce back up shaking your ass.

Still singing the song still you move your hips to the left and to the right when that part of the song comes on, wiggling when they song says so.

"To the window, To the wall!" All three of you sing. Pointing to to the window and the wall.

You now feel someone behind you. Knowing the only other person that could have joined you guys would be Matt. The lyrics "Bend over to he front touch toes back dat ass up and down and get low" come on and you do that as you have been with the rest of the song.

Not realizing how close Matt really was to you. You end up hitting his crotch. Him immediately grabbing your hip so you don't rub against him, but you do anyway. You know what you are doing to him. You and Matt have always had a flirty relationship, agreeing that you guys where just friends. Everyone knew that you both kinda liked each other or thought the other one was cute.

Plastering a smile on your face when you feel Matt grip your hips tighter when you directly rub up against his growing boner. Backing up a little more when the same lyric is said again.

The song now ending you step forward going to make away from Matt but his hands are still on you. He quickly pulls his hands away from you and moves them to cover the small bulge that is now in his pants.

The next song starts with some whistling. "Moves Like Jagger" is now playing over the speakers. You start to jump up and down to the beat of the song. Spinning in a circle as you sing the song. Nick and Chris in their own world dancing with each other.

You feel hands on your shoulders stopping you from dancing. You huff and turn your head seeing Matt's faces close to your ear. You can feel his hot jagged breath on your neck as he talks.

"Wanna see my moves?" He pauses for a sec, but continues when you don't move. "They're just like Jaggers."

Now spinning to face him, he winks and walks off to his room. Leaving you there to finish dancing thinking about what he has just said to you.

~~

Knocking on Matt's door it quickly opens and he pulls you inside. Gasping at the sudden jolt you lose your balance falling right into Matt's chest. You are thinking about whether or not it was a good idea to come down here.

Matt chuckling, he looks at you. You now realize how long you have been standing holding onto his shirt in silence. Stepping back from Matt you look up. "hi." You speak at almost a whisper.

"hey." He says back almost as quite as you.

The tension in the room is so thick you could see it. The dim lights of Matt's room not helping. The mood seems to be set, his bed has silk sheets on it, paired with a matching quilt.

You finally decide to speak up about what Matt had said to you 5 minutes prior. "What's with this 'wanna see my moves' thing?" You question, seriously not knowing what he was talking about.

Matt sits and stares at you for a few seconds before finally taking two steps towards you, grabbing your face and planting his lips on yours. You are shocked at his sudden action. You slowly start to kiss him back when you realize what is happening. Matt pulls away from you lips and looks you in the eyes.

"That help?"

You answer him by kissing him back, this time he is the one that is caught off guard. Pulling away you answer with a breathy "yeah" and a quite giggle. Matt pulls you closer to him with his hands on your waist.

You cant stop smiling. You never thought this day would come when you would be able to kiss Matt. Not wanting to push Matt to do anything you just put your arms around his neck and wait for him to make the next move.

Matt without any warning picks you up, walks across his room and places you on his bed. Standing in front of you he bends down to be level with your face "You have no idea what you do to me, do you?" He whispers in your ear.

His hot breath fanning your neck sends shivers down your spine, making you let out a low whimper. Chuckling Matt moves his face so now he is making eye contact with you. Deciding hes not going to do something about the obvious tension in the room, you kiss him again.

This time it gets heated. Your back is pushed against the bed, Matt on top of you. Matt's hands are on your waist. Your hands rest on his chest, playing with the fabric of his shirt. His grip is strong making it so you cant move. He is leaving wet kisses down your jaw and neck, then moving back up to your face.

Matt's hands are traveling up your sides, making you squirm at his touch. He pulls away and lifts his shirt up and over his head. You've seen Matt shirtless before, but you cant help and stare right now, taking in every detail of his torso. Matt clears his throat becoming nervous under your gaze.

"sor-." You go to say. Matt cuts you off by kissing you again. His hands playing with the bottom of your shirt now. Taking the hint you break the kiss and slide your thin top up and over your head. Matt is the one staring now, as your chest is now only covered by your lacy bra. Giggling quietly "My eyes are up here silly." Grabbing his chin and bringing his eyes back up to yours.

"You're so beautiful." Matt is kissing you again not giving you time to even say anything back. Smiling in the kiss at the compliment. You go to toy with his belt. Matt pulls back from the kiss looking down at where your hands are, so close to where he needs them but so far away.

You drop your hands as quickly as you can thinking that he is uncomfortable with what you're doing. Matt quickly grabs them and puts them back, letting you know to keep going. You quickly unbuckle his belt, throwing it somewhere on the floor. Still kissing Matt you feel his hands at the waist band out your pants. Nodding yes to let him know it's ok to take them off.

Matt rips your pants down your legs, along with his own leaving you both in your underwear. Your arms go to wrap around your waist to hide from Matt but he stops you by holding your hands above your head, interlocking your fingers. He gives you a quick peck on the lips before moving down to your jaw and neck.

Your breath hitches when he kisses your collar bone. He looks up at you, making eye contact. "Can I take this off?" He ask playing with the strap of your bra. Shaking you head yes. "Words now please." He says. Instant butterfly's enter your tummy.

"Yes, take it off Matt." You say slightly moaning his name when he kisses the top of your breast.

Matt takes your bra off and his mouth quickly finds your nipple swirling it around with his tongue. Whimpering as he does this you can feel him smiling onto your skin. Hands flying to his hair to try and push him down to where you need him the most. "Matt."

"Hm" He responds not taking his mouth off of your body traveling farther down. "What do you need sweetheart."

"I need y-you, Matt, I need you so bad." You confess.

"All you had to do was ask." He starts to move down your body, now at the top of your panties. He loops his finger under the top of them and looks at you once again in the eyes asking for permission to take your final piece of clothing off.

"Matt, just take them off already." You beg slightly, becoming needy. "Please, I need you inside of me already." This makes Matt's cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as if his not undressing you.

Ripping your panties off Matt stares at your naked body laying in front of him. "How did I get so lucky?" He ask himself. He's now face to face with you pussy. You feel his warm breath on your heat. You can feel you heart rate pick up, this is something you never thought would be happening to you.

Gasping when you feel his tongue lick a strip through your folds. You can feel him smirking against you as his tongue moves at a fast speed now. You are becoming a mess from just his tongue, how would it feel when he is pounding into you, his dick hitting the right spot every time.

"M-matt" His name comes out of your mouth louder than you thought because he stops his movements and puts his finger to his lip tell you to be quite. His chin is covered in your juices.

"shh. Wouldn't want them to hear." He says nodding his head towards the door implying he was talking about his brothers.

Quickly nodding your head Matt gets back to work. Your legs start to shake not to long after he starts again. Your hands are pulling on his hair. "Matt-I ug- Im close." You manage to moan out. Matt quickens his pace when he hears this.

"Cum for me, let it all go pretty girl" Hearing his words you cum all over his face. Your legs are shaking, your thighs squeezing around his head as your organism washes over you.

As you are trying to catch your breath Matt's face comes out from in-between your legs. Wiping his chin with the back of his hand, he comes up to your face and gives you a quick little peck on the lips. His lips travel from your lips to the top of your breast.

His hard on presses against your thigh, pressing your thigh up into his cock. He whimpers at the feeling when you do this, lightly biting down on your chest. You do this again, this time earning a moan from Matt. Smirking at what you do to him, you quickly flip so now you are on top of him.

You loop your fingers in the waist band of his underwear and he takes the hit and pulls them down. You can't help but stare for a second, thinking about how it will fit. Matt clears his throat and you bring your attention back to his face.

"Are you sure about this?" Matt ask you.

"Yeah." You tell him. "What about you? Do you want this to?"

"Most defiantly."

With that you kiss Matt. Pulling away Matt flips you guys over again so he is on top once again. He lines up his tip with your entrance. He slowly pushes into. You wince at this pain as he stretches you out. He slowly starts to thrust into you.

Little sounds escape your lips when the pain becomes pleasure. Matt starts to move his hips. You feel over the moon right now, never in a billion years would you think this would be happening, all because of a stupid song.

Matt's lips reconnect with yours. His hips are moving slowly still. "Mhp- Matt." You let quiets moans and whimpers of his name leave your mouth, pushing Matt to move his hips faster.

"You're so pretty." He lets out. "I hope you know that." Blushing at his comments his name slips past your lips again.

Matt hits the spot that makes you crumble every time. You can't hold back your moans anymore, letting the whole house know what is going on. Matt is quick to put his fingers in your mouth. Picking up his pace as his rams into you.

You're close to cumming again, you can tell Matt is as well. His thrust are become sloppy and uneven. "C-close." is all you can mumble out.

"Me to, me to." He tells you as he takes his fingers out of your mouth wanting to hear the noises he causes you to make. "Cum with me y/n?"

Before the whole sentence leaves his mouth your cumming, him not far after you. Matt pulls out and falls down on the bed next to you. You look over at him, his face slightly sweaty from the events that just had happened. "That was..." You start but trail off.

"Yeah it was." He knows what you mean, you just smile at the fact he thinks that same. He looks over at you, making eye contact with you. He leans over and gives you a quick peck on the lips before getting out of bed and walking into his bathroom. He walks back into the room with a washcloth.

Walking over to you he drags the cloth all over your thighs being careful around your more sensitive parts as he cleans you up. Peppering kisses all around your body as he does this.

Once he is done he throws the cloth in his dirty clothes bin and grabs you a sweatshirt and underwear from his dresser. After helping you put them on, and his own pair, he climbs back into bed with you. Snuggling up close to you, you can feel his hot breath on your neck.

"Soo-" you start before Matt cuts you off.

"Can we talk in the morning? I just want to cuddle right now..." Matt shamelessly admits.

Laughing lightly at his small confession, "Yeah." You answer. "I like that idea" Snuggling back into his chest. Slowly you start to drift asleep, in arms you're used to sleeping in but this time it's different. A good difference, one that you like and could get used to.

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ANpt2.: I hoped you guys like this. This took me forever to write but I really enjoyed it. this is so long so thanks for reading the whole thing. OKAY BYE LOVE YOU <3!!!

[restlessmaknae]

enchanted [mark lee]

You have one goal when you apply for the yearly contest to get into the most prestigious wizardry school: to win just like your parents did 25 years ago. However, bumping into prince Minhyung who seems to remember you from your yearly visits to the palace seems to shake up your plan a little bit.

➳ Characters: prince!Mark x female!reader/you

➳ Genre: fantasy, fluff, magical kingdom au, magical contest au, magical school au

➳ Words: 19.7k

➳ Warning: mentions of injuries, burn marks, pressuring parents

➳ A/N: This story is dedicated to @dat-town. Merry Christmas, dear! ❤️ You've already read my little (?) letter, but really, thank you for everything! I love you so so so much. ❤️

Plus, I've gotten carried away, but this story was inspired by your prompt for the request event: “i’m not blushing” with mark lee

Check out the masterpost for the Four Kingdoms' United School of Elemental Magic series!

➳ NCT taglist: @s00buwu, @winterbeartaehyungbestboy, @sweetjaemss, @stories-inbetween-the-stars, @squiishymeow, @heyditseeey

You felt the air around you shift. You shifted it, the current leaving goosebumps on the skin of the judges as the temperature in the room dropped. You welcomed the familiar tug in your stomach as you gathered the threads of magic around you, pulling it towards you and taming it to your own will.

First was the change in temperature, then you sent out whooshes of air - towards the shelves, towards the candles on the judges' table, sipping the light from them, leaving the wick bare, then towards the windows, earning crackling noises as if something from outside wanted to come in. It was actually quite true for you were feeding on the energy of air, the oxygen in the room, but it wasn't enough. Not anymore.

A few seconds later, the crackling stopped as the two huge windows of the room flew open violently, and the otherwise peaceful breeze from outside wafted into the room. You held onto it, and it physically felt like holding onto it as if it was a rope and you were pulling it closer. As you sipped more and more air into the room, your body was trying to keep up with more and more energy rushing through you. It was a feeling akin to running - it was both freeing and exhausting at the same time. You pushed yourself more and more until you let everything accumulate in one big tornado in the middle of the room. It danced around like flames of a candle or that sweet treat vendors enjoyed making while children watched in awe as the dessert took form in the shape of a small tornado.

The difficult thing wasn't creating the tornado but rather not let it lose shape and eventually lose control. A wizard's magic didn't lie in its impressive complexity or array of skills, but in the way they could control whatever they possessed. At least, your parents said so. You concentrated on your determination to prove to them how worthy you were to wear the family name, how worthy you were as a female, and channelled it into the tornado in front of you, into gradually narrowing it until it was the size of a loaf of bread. Then, with a whip of your hand, the gust of air disappeared completely.

You didn't really register that you were sweating all throughout your demonstration until you could feel drops of sweat roll down your cheeks. You didn't waver though, you merely let out a long sigh and blew away the stray locks that fell into your eyes.

"Thank you for your demonstration," the woman on the left said. Your parents had told you about her - Kim Taeyeon, a member of the senate of the Four Kingdoms -, said to be able to tame all four elemental magic without any of them overpowering the other, so definitely a rare case. The man on her left was Kim Jungmyeon, a highly praised wizard professor from the Earth Kingdom. There was another man and another woman, but in your state, you couldn't recall their names.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity," you bowed deeply, and when you straightened, you tried to translate their facial expressions, but you couldn't for they masked their emotions perfectly well, no sign of being impressed or being disappointed about your performance either. Maybe it was for the better.

"We shall get back in touch with you within 5 days no matter whether you are chosen or not," professor Kim Junmyeon announced briefly, and that was enough for you to know that it was the end of the first round for you. Somehow, you noticed, the flames were back dancing on the top of the candles as if you had never put them out, and you wondered whether it was his doing.

You thanked them for the information and bid your goodbye. Only when you left the room, did you allow yourself to wipe the sweat off your face. As you walked down the corridor, your features softened, but you steeled them when you turned a corner and walked past the next contestants lining up.

When you had been lining up yourself, you had seen others coming out angry, frustrated, disheartened, and some had even come out crying. Some had come out boasting that they would make it for sure, while others like you had to act as if you weren't debating inside whether your efforts were enough.

To be honest, girls were looked down on when applying either way. Since a part of a woman's magic left her body when she gave birth to a child, some saw women as easily disposable wizard trainees. Some highlighted that it was a waste of time and effort to train them as their magic would lose some of its power upon childbirth, so when it was time for the yearly contest to get into the Four Kingdoms' United School of Applied Elemental Magic, there were always glances thrown around and nasty whispers whenever a girl showed up.

Despite your expectation to receive the same attention as you had done so when you had walked up to the entrance of the institution, no eyes were on you. Everyone was looking behind them, whispers half-muffled as their eyes darted between the corridor and a certain someone at the end of the line. As if they parted around him, you could see clearly who it was when you walked past him.

But he...

"Did he get into trouble?"

"Does he want to prove that he is as great of a wizard as his parents are?"

"Why did he apply though? There are always places reserved for royal children…"

The questions on the other contestants' minds were mirroring your own because you didn't understand either why Lee Minhyung, the golden child of the royal couple in the Air Kingdom was there, lined up for the yearly contest to study at the wizardry school managed by the Four Kingdoms. The Four Kingdoms weren't always so friendly with each other, so the fact that the royal families, the senate and the appointed professors could all work towards training the winners of the contest who would then study there for 2 years before becoming either advisors for their respective kingdom's royal families, consuls in the senate or professors in training at the school was symbolic enough of how big this application was.

On the other hand, the royal children were always excluded from the first round, meaning that they didn't need to apply and demonstrate their abilities in the first round. They were always selected in the 200 contestants who would go onto the second round, and no one questioned why because they supposedly had the best teachers in their own kingdoms and their own families were founders of the school.

So why… why was Lee Minhyung still there?

As the tale goes, the Four Kingdoms of Elemental Magic were once a united kingdom. They were built in a square shape, and there were no borders between them. Wizards in that era were said to have been the most powerful as they had access to all the four elements and they could tame their magic as they wished. There were schools for magic back then as well, but they were more like training schools, not educational institutions with a highly standardised application process. Everyone could reap the benefits of highly trained wizards.

Nonetheless, access to all meant that some took advantage of the situation, and wizards without properly controlled powers or those who felt like they were better than others used their magic to intimidate, hurt and manipulate others. Crime bloomed along the streets of the united kingdom, and it went as far as assassinating the then ruling King, leaving the Queen and her two sons to take control of the situation.

That was when the borders were put it place and the square shaped kingdom was divided into four small squares according to where each element was the most powerful - the Air kingdom with its windy weather and peaceful lowlands, the Earth Kingdom with its rich woods and lush fields, the Fire Kingdom with its majestically overtowering volcano and long nights that forced towns to provide constant light for visibility and the Water Kingdom with its high quality drinking water, mesmerising lakes and bustling seafood markets.

Magic became something to control as children were tested every year to see if they possessed any magic and if they did, what kind, so that they could be put into schools according to their abilities. Soon enough, wizards with the ability to tame all four kinds of magic became more and more rare, and even those were kept close to the royal family or the senate that was put together to combat crime, rebellion and manipulation of one's power in all four kingdoms.

You knew that given the circumstances, it was the best they could do, but you felt like it was unfair to those who didn't have enough money to send their children to a good wizardry school, those who could not afford to move closer to the capital city to make use of their talent but rather had to grind somewhere in a small town to be able to put food on the table each and every day. Not to mention those who wanted to travel and see the different kingdoms as it was prohibited for the common people to visit another kingdom but their own.

The gap between the rich and poor widened, and everyone was monitored, everyone was administered in order to avoid repeating the past. Vendors could only bring their products to the borders where the border officials took them and gave them a predetermined sum of money, families were torn apart due to the implemented borders, and the four kingdoms appointed the area on the border of all four kingdoms where once the capital of the United Kingdom had been ‘the Circle’. The Circle gave home to the newly built senate building, the council buildings for each kingdom to discuss matters between them when there was no need to include the senate, the newly built Four Kingdoms' United School of Applied Elemental Magic where each element could be well studied and practised as the magic was still the most powerful there, and the homes of those regularly staying and working in the Circle.

One of the reasons you applied for the school's yearly contest was because you had ideas how to change the current system, and as a 20-year old person, let alone a girl, you had no voice. Even if your parents were both parts of the senate representing the Air Kingdom, they didn't want to listen to you. They always said that this would be too costly, that would be too risky, so ultimately, nothing changed. The other reason was to prove to them that you were worthy, that you could be as powerful as them, both selected as part of the final winners in the contest 25 years ago.

"I've heard that this year, there were more than 500 applicants," your mother stated matter-of-factly over breakfast on the day you were supposed to be notified of your result. "And prince Minhyung was one of them. I definitely didn't see that coming from the royal couple, sending their child to the first round like that," she continued, her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Not that you had any say in applying because despite the fact that you had wanted to apply yourself, you knew all too well that your parents wouldn't have accepted a no as an answer either.

Even if you had gone to a good school in the Air Kingdom, this was different. The fact that there was a contest to get into the Four Kingdoms' United School of Applied Elemental Magic was proof enough that it was a huge deal; learning not just about your own magic but about the others as well. The schools in individual kingdoms weren’t as equipped as the united school, and the professors working there didn’t usually practise magic other than their own kingdom’s because those who did worked elsewhere - mostly somewhere in the Circle.

"Well, it was not against the rules. Their excludement from the first round is a privilege, not a duty," your father added between two spoonfuls of porridge.

"I've heard that the prince wanted to come on his own accord, that his parents didn't know about his decision until the very end," you blurted out, earning two pairs of wide eyes on you. You didn't usually believe the gossip from the streets and markets, but you had nothing else to do since the first round of the contest as you didn't have classes because your parents were sure that you would make it, so you had the past four days off. If you were to be selected, you would have a month-long competition ahead of you with daily classes and practices anyway.

"I doubt that's the truth. That would mean prince Minhyung is rather irresponsible, and that's not what I've heard of him," your mother shook her head as if she was disapproving of the whole situation.

Or rather brave, you wanted to say, but you bit your tongue. You didn't know why you felt the need to defend the prince, but he hardly looked like someone who had been there just to cause trouble and drama. He had looked like he wanted to be there, excited yet slightly nervous at the same time as he had been nibbling on his lower lip, his big doe eyes shining joviantly - he had looked just like everyone else.

Either way, you were about to find out what kind of a person he was because when the letter arrived from the Four Kingdoms' United School of Applied Elemental Magic, you were notified of your successful application and the time you would need to move into the dormitory for the second round.

"As expected of our daughter," your mother put a hand on your shoulder upon the news and gave you a triumphant smile. You weren't sure though whether she looked so proud because she felt like she was the reason for your success or because she was wholeheartedly happy for you. It had been a long time since you had heard genuine congratulations from them. For a long time now, it had always been 'as expected of our daughter', and truthfully, you didn't know how to feel about that.

When the day of your moving arrived, you were rather grateful to leave. After all, it would be the first time you would leave home for more than a few days at a time, and after the last few days of tormenting lectures about controlling your magic, concentrating on your energy levels and keeping out all distractions, you were ready to bolt. It was in a way very helpful to have highly influential wizards as your parents, but more often than not, it seemed like magic was the only thing they could talk about. In their eyes, if you didn't become a wizard like them, you would be a nobody.

No wonder you didn't shed tears like some others when bidding goodbye to your parents at the entrance of the school. You had to go through a couple of people with a couple of questions before you were given directions to your dormitory room and a key. The wizardry school had three main buildings: one for classes and training with specifically crafted walls and windows, some sound-proof, fire and water-proof while others budding with green spaces and individually designed structures to mimic slippery hills, sweep mountain hills and such fields to prepare you for possible battlefields; the second one for socialising including the dormitory with three floors of rooms, common areas and a grande canteen, and the third one for everything else: the teachers’ offices, an infirmary, storage rooms and a small shop where you could buy supplies for classes as well as little treats for yourself if you were still hungry after the meals in the canteen.

Knowing where to go and how equipped the school was due to your parents working in the Circle came in handy on the first day when assisting teachers and volunteering students were hustling and bustling with the administration rather than walking you to your rooms, so you took it upon yourself to find your room with the help of the signs indicating the different floors.

Realistically, you knew that housing 200 youngsters for a week wouldn't mean a room on your own even if you were to have your own room during your studies at the school if you were selected in the final, but you were still surprised to find two girls already in your room when you arrived.

"Oh, you must be from the Air Kingdom. The air around you is literally different," the girl who introduced herself as Dayoung mentioned as she made room for you to put down your baggage on the shared desk. She had long, strawberry-blonde hair and an almond-shaped face with a friendly, almost teasing smile and a laid back vibe.

"Or I'm just stern," you shrugged your shoulders, and they took your joke well as they both burst into laughter. Wizards from the Air Kingdom were said to be intimidating and strict, but not in the rebellious, wild way like those from the Fire Kingdom, but rather in a cold, unfriendly way.

"They say we're totally weirdos, so don't worry," Yoojung added joyfully after letting you know that they were both from the Fire Kingdom. They didn't go to school together, but their parents knew each other, so they had become quite the friends over the past few years. It was amusing to look at them as a pair - Dayoung with her blonde hair and Yoojung with her dark brown hair, the latter shorter by at least a head -, but they seemed like really good friends.

"Do you know anyone else coming from the Air Kingdom?"

"Uhmm..." You wondered out loud upon hearing Yoojung's question. You didn't have a lot of friends because of your strict training schedule, not to mention your parents telling you to focus on making connections with important people rather than simply friends. Needless to say, you couldn't care less, but you didn't even have a lot of opportunities to make friends, so you knew of those mostly whom your parents told you about. "There are two boys who went to the same school with me, and they've been accepted as far as I know...Prince Minhyung is coming, too," you listed, though the latter was obvious while the former boys they couldn't know about. Yohan and Yongha were both pretty talented and chill back at school, so you didn't think they would make any trouble.

"Oooh the royal kids," cooed Dayoung, and exchanged a glance with Yoojung.

"Did I miss something?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Yoojung protested with heavy hand gestures at the same time as Dayoung hollered: "Oh yeah, I've got a story for you."

It turned out after a little bit of bickering that Dayoung and Yoojung were both coming into the dormitory building at the same time as prince Hendery - from the Water Kingdom - and his so-called best friend Xiaojun did so, and Dayoung could swear that the prince had his eyes locked on Yoojung from the moment they met whereas the girl in question told her that she was simply being delusional. You could listen to their stories and bickering for hours, you felt, but then a boy showed up at your door, and blinked around, confused.

"Uhmmm.... I guess I got lost?" The boy, all raven-hair, boyish features and big doe eyes said, and for a moment, he seemed like a boy you could see on market days running between the different stalls, not the prince from your own kingdom.

You could already see Dayoung opening her mouth - to probably question if he was the so-called prince Minhyung -, so you saved everyone from the embarrassment and asked:

"Which room were you assigned to?"

"Third floor, fifth room to the left... or maybe it was the right?" He giggled nervously as the question hit him and scratched his neck like a sheepish boy. It was so in contrast to what you had heard about him - the golden child of the royal family, talented in everything from magic to public speaking and horse riding, in training to become one of the best wizards in his kingdom - that you felt your lips curl upwards in amusement.

"The boys' rooms are in the right wing as far as I know," you shared with him, and Dayoung agreed, telling a whole story about a boy named Seunghun who was in front of her in the line, and who was handsome by the way, and who was supposed to be on the third floor as well and in the right wing.

"Oh, okay, thank you," he bobbed his head in gratitude, then opened his mouth to say something only to close it a bit later. You all looked at him, puzzled, before he managed to speak up again.

"Haven't we met before?"

The question was directed at you, and both girls turned their heads towards you, eyes hungry for a story. You blinked at him, bewildered by both the fact that he remembered you and that he asked about it in front of others.

"My parents are members of the consul in the Air Kingdom and members of the senate. We give our blessings to the kingdom each year at the Festival of Light and Air," you told him, and even though he could have lost count of all the different faces, a hint of surprise crossed his eyes.

"Oh, I remember! Your parents always said that we're the same age. No wonder you're here," he articulated, totally in awe, his eyes lighting up.

You could see from the corner of your eyes that the girls were smirking beside you, but you didn't dare to look their way. You were glad that Minhyung pulled himself together quickly, and cleared his throat to bid his goodbye.

"Right wing then, thank you. See you around!" He smiled radiantly before turning around and leaving. There was a moment of silence before the room erupted with noise. You had to close the door to keep it in, and even though you couldn't say much more about your brief yearly encounters with the prince and his family when you all bowed towards them and said the same words to bless the kingdom, the magic of air and the royal family, you already had a feeling that you would be in good company here.

The first week was exhausting and noisy. It started with an introduction to the professors, a tour of the buildings, and the rules that you must follow (such as not hurting other contestants and not using magic on others, occupying trainings rooms to practise your magic only when a professor approved your request, and going to your rooms before curfew which also prohibited different contestants to sleep at another’s room). There were exactly 200 20-year-old students including the royal heirs, and even though you didn't meet everyone because the classes were held in small groups, meal times were for everyone, so the canteen was full of chattering and bantering.

You usually went to the canteen with Dayoung and Yoojung, but not all of your classes were together. That meant that you had even more to talk about because Yoojung had classes with prince Hendery, and despite the fact that Dayoung wasn't there, she was sure that the prince was all heart eyes for her friend.

You, of course, were teased by them because you attended a class together with prince Minhyung, and you actually talked. You didn't know whether it was because you were the first familiar face he caught sight of, but he asked if he could sit beside you, and you said yes. You didn't talk a lot though, but he seemed pretty grounded for a prince, and he didn't boast about his skills even though he was really good. Due to the fact that your main element was the same - air -, and you were learning how to tame the opposite one - earth -, you shared this class because the second round would be about demonstrating how you could control an opposite element as well as yours.

You could see how serious and focused he was when he was gathering and controlling his magic, but you could also see how easily distracted he was by outside noises. Indeed, the first round was held in silence, but you weren't sure that it would stay that way. After all, out of the 200 students, only 100 could pass the second round, more or less 25 from each kingdom. After that, 80 out of 100 would go on, and then the last two rounds’ numbers of winners wouldn’t be based on a specific number, but rather the number of students who fulfil the given challenges, so it could be 20 or all 80, but usually the average number of winners were around 30-40 each year.

It was a rule to give equal chances to all the four kingdoms, but it wouldn't be realistic to always stick to a predetermined number of students who could pass from each kingdom because there might be better students in a particular one and less gifted ones in another one.

However, having to calculate with around 25 students passing in your own kingdom's group made you feel nervous when the day of the second round arrived, and you were all waiting for your turn, gathered together in the canteen.

"How are you feeling?" Prince Minhyung inquired with his warm brown eyes widened, and you toned down the urge to push aside his fringe that was falling into his eyes. He was, in a way, a grown-up boy with hints of boyish features, and the duality of him - both his appearance and his personality - made you feel like you were in the wrong. Like you should have not paid too much attention to these details, yet you did.

"A bit nervous," you answered truthfully as you looked around yourself, seeing everyone in your group in the same white, loose pants and long-sleeved shirt. Each group had a different outfit and a different colour - white for Air with loose clothing that the air could sweep into, blue for Water with water-proof, body-fitting clothes, burgundy for Fire with inflammable jackets and sporty pants while Green for Earth with hiking boots and field clothes.

"I don't think you have anything to be nervous about. I'm sure you'll do great," the boy remarked, gentle and supportive as usual, and you didn't know what it was about him, but you wanted to believe him. So you thanked him before inquiring about his side.

"I'm a bit nervous, too. I mean, I've practised it enough, but it's like... it's like a scary test. I've never had to demonstrate my powers to anyone like this after preparing for a week. I've just had classes where I did all these exercises, but they were nothing like this," he elaborated, suddenly a lot more serious than before. You hummed, taking in his words. You didn't know what you had expected for the child of the royal couple to learn, but it wasn't this.

"That's why you've applied? To push your boundaries?" You guessed tentatively because you had no idea whether that was a button you could push or not. All kinds of rumours had been going around about why prince Minhyung was there in the first place, but you hadn't asked about his reason in the past week. Truthfully, you hadn't felt like asking about it.

On the other hand, the boy's features softened upon your question, and his eyes lit up, twinkling with something akin to gratitude.

"Yeah, exactly. I felt like my teachers went easy on me just because I am the heir to the throne, and I wanted to do it like everyone else from the start. Plus, I don't think it's fair that you have to apply for the first round and royal children don't. I have nothing to do with my ancestors' decision from a hundred years ago," he stated firmly, and now you could see that rebellious side of him that you hadn't caught on the day of the first round. You could see the fire in his eyes and hear the determination in his voice. Maybe it was due to all those lessons about public speaking, but you had a feeling that he could do everything he put his mind to just by the way he worded himself.

"Well, I know some people who believe that you did the right thing," you shared with a small smile, dissolving the solemnity in the air. The boy smiled back at you, and it felt like a gentle breeze swaying a field of poppies when he did so - so soothing, so reassuring.

"Thanks," he mumbled rather coyly, and you could watch this sight for so long, but your name was called, so you had to go.

With one last glance in the prince's direction, you headed towards one of the training fields outside.

After the usual formalities and rules of the demonstration, you did what you had done last time, but pulled the energy of nature around you just as well. Fallen leaves and trunks were dancing in the tornado you created until you let them touch the floor gently as if nothing had happened. Then, you pushed a current of air into the ground, so hard that it pierced through the surface, leaving a small hole in front of you. A hole, that once you let go of the air's energy, you mended with the energy of nature at your feet. It was still more exhausting to use it and recognise the pull of earth rather than the pull of air, but you had learned how to begin to tame each elemental magic before, at least the gist of it, so now you focused on deepening that knowledge. And it seemed to pay off as the ground beneath you mended itself, leaving no ghost of a crack behind to let anyone think that it had opened up before.

"Thank you very much for your demonstration, Miss Y/N. Please, wait for the end of the second round to get to know about your result," one of your professors who was a part of the judges announced, and you nodded, thanking them for the opportunity.

There was a tremble in your legs and a prickling feeling in your hands when you stepped inside the building again. You tried to shake it off, but it must have been the thrill of it all because the feeling faded only when you managed to calm the crazy beating of your heart. It also helped that prince Minhyung finished soon afterwards, so you could share your experiences in the hall where all those who had already finished gathered together. Dayoung and Yoojung also arrived a bit later, and you guessed that the so-called prince Hendery and his friend did too because prince Minhyung seemed to know him, and Dayoung kept giving her friend those googly eyes.

The rest of the waiting went by fast with more and more students accumulating around your little group, and soon enough, the representatives of the judges announced the results.

You realised how different it was when you had received the results through letters compared to now when the names of those who passed were called out. You squealed when Dayoung's and Yoojung's names were read out, and you gave prince Minhyung a wide, bright smile when his was, too. Then, there was Seunghun from the Fire Kingdom, Serim from the Water Kingdom, Yeosang from the Earth Kingdom and...

"Y/N from the Air Kingdom!"

You could feel your stomach drop in relief when your name was called, and you were embraced by both Yoojung and Dayoung at the same time, so much that you almost didn't even notice prince Minhyung's supportive little smile directed at you. Just almost though.

With the announcement of the selected ones, the theme of the third round was also announced. You would need to demonstrate your current ability of controlling three different elemental powers - so a stepping stone from the second round -, but this time, you couldn't prepare your own demonstration, you had to do what the judges would ask you on the spot. It would be both nerve-wracking and reassuring because they would ask more or less the same set of exercises from those who learned how to tame the same three elemental powers, so it would be easier to compare the students. At the same time, you were afraid that you wouldn't understand their request or it would be totally out of your league, and you would fail miserably. The thing is, even though Dayoung's brother had been a contestant two years ago, they could strictly not talk about the content of the contest, plus they were supposed to change up the structure a little bit every now and then, so you had no idea what to expect.

"I'm saying, we should focus on our classes and making memories rather than worrying about the end result," Hendery chattered at the canteen during lunch when he heard your worried words.

During the week and with the diminishing number of people, your little group of Dayoung, Yoojung, Minhyung, Hendery, Xiaojun and you had become quite solidified. The princes also asked you to call them by their names instead of their title since you were friends now. Though seeing Hendery and Yoojung's friendly bickering, you also thought that they might not have been just friends much to Dayoung's joy.

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry either. All royal kids are still in the contest," Yoojung pointed out rather frustrated, but it was because she had messed up her demonstration during the second round, and she had been down ever since.

Truthfully, you could totally understand her. If you wanted to be honest, you were terrified of dropping out - not because it would hurt your ego, but because you didn’t know how you would face your parents afterwards. You knew that Yoojung’s father was teaching magic at a school in the Fire Kingdom while her mother was part of their consul, so she had the same fears as you. Despite passing the second round, she had received a blow to her self-esteem, and even though you and Dayoung had tried to cheer her up, she hadn’t yet regained her usual cheeriness.

The air around you froze for a moment, and despite not mentioning your different backgrounds in such a bad light before, it was true that the royal applicants usually made it to the last two rounds safe and sound. You didn't want to jump to conclusions because your own parents were rather influential, and they were a part of the senate who managed the school, but you wouldn't be surprised if you weren't treated equally. After all, that first round exemption privilege was also not a thing of the past.

"You should have just said that my charms are irresistible, that's why I'm still here," Hendery shrugged with a teasing grin, and slightly nudged Yoojung's shoulder with his own. It could be seen how the girl's features softened a bit, but she said nothing before turning back to her food.

The slightly tense atmosphere was lingering in the air for the next few days, and Yoojung was still not back to her usual self. So when she didn’t come back to your shared room after classes one day, you decided to look for her in your dormitory building while Dayoung was looking for her in the canteen, the infirmary and such.

The dormitory had a tower on top, one that was surrounded by a circular terrace from where one could see the whole Circle. You liked to come up to calm your nerves, so that was the first palace that came to mind, and as you took the steps to the top one after another, you wondered if you would be like her if you messed up during a round. It’s not like it was a matter of life and death, but you knew how much pressure influential parents could place on their children - as if one single mistake or faltering weren’t your own, but it was a dismay to your whole family.

When you reached the top, you were about to reach for the doorknob when you caught sight of Yoojung and Hendery talking on the terrace through the transparent glass door. They were standing close to each other, and when you looked closer, you realised that Hendery was fumbling with his hands as if he wasn’t sure what to do with them, but he kept reaching towards the girl who seemed to be oblivious to that as her eyes were unfocused on anything in particular - she was just staring ahead of herself.

Knowing that Hendery was a good guy, and that your friend was in good hands, you decided to go against interfering, and descended down the stairs. You reached the bottom and you were about to turn the corner when you quite literally bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” you mumbled apologetically even before it could settle in who he was. When your eyes found the prince’s own shining orbs, you merely let out a giggle.

“Me too,” Minhyung added with a nervous scratch of his neck. He blinked at you as if he didn’t know what to say, and you noted that his eyes were exceptionally bright that day, twinkling vividly surrounded by the light of the corridor.

“Were you headed for the terrace?” You inquired just in case, and he nodded, albeit a bit timid. “Yoojung and Hendery are there, and they seemed to be having a moment, so I didn’t want to interrupt them.”

“Oh cool, great! I mean… it’s cool that they are there because I was just about to look for Hendery because he didn’t say where he went. But it’s also cool that they are there together. They seem to get along well.”

You could only agree with him, but it was rather adorable how he was tumbling upon his words even though he wasn’t the one in question who was having a moment. So why was his face getting redder and redder? Was it still the little bump’s aftermath?

“Yeah, I think so, too. Yoojung seems to like him.”

“As in like like him?” The boy’s eyes widened to double their size, his jaw hanging slightly. You bobbed your head, finding his bewilderment rather funny. “Oh my gosh, I think he likes her like that too, but he’s intimidated by her, so he doesn’t want to say anything. It’s like… you know… like… how there are some guys who are all cool and casual, but when they have a girl they like, they become different. It’s that vibe for me.”

The way Minhyung blabbered with wild hand gestures was quite cute, but the more he talked, the more he seemed to get carried away with his words, and in the end, you didn’t even know how you ended up getting to know stories about one of his palace guards’ love stories (a young man named Johnny who seemed to flirt with anyone and everyone), but there you were, listening to him with his lively intonations, watching his eyes shine and lit up whenever you reacted to his words, and it was just too surreal.

You were talking to a prince after all, but he was talking about the people around him at the palace as if they had been his neighbours. Maybe that’s why you enjoyed his company so much: apart from the warmth that he spread, he was a very down-to-earth person who didn’t judge anyone by their social status, but rather by their personality. Not all royalty were like that. One of the princesses had also joined the competition, and no one seemed to mind that she had not passed the second round because she had looked down on everyone around her.

In the meantime, you moved from the bottom of the stairs to an abandoned couch in one of the common rooms, time passing by quickly beside the boy. He was good at talking, but he was also an excellent listener, and you could always feel that he listened attentively for he always asked questions when he needed clarification or when he was merely curious about your side. This is how your reason for being here came up.

“Partly, I had no choice because of my parents, but I also came here because I wanted to. I feel like there are a couple of things that the Four Kingdoms could change to make magic more accessible for everyone and to regulate borders more efficiently, but my voice can’t be heard just by being my parents’ daughter. So I hope that I can be one of the students who can study at the school in the end, thus I can gain even more knowledge and let my voice be heard when I become a part of the senate or the consul.”

You weren’t afraid to share it with him because it was him after all, but at the same time, when he didn’t respond for a few seconds, the terrifying thought came to mind that your words might have implied that you weren’t happy with the way his parents ruled the kingdom. So you immediately turned to face him, but instead of shock being written on his face, it was actually awe painting his features.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” He blurted out, still a bit awe-struck, when he managed to pull himself together for a proper response. “From what you’ve just said and what I’ve heard from you already, I know that you would be able to make change in our kingdom and our systems,” he said so with a smile that could outdo the sun, and there it was, the warmth that you were speaking about. He radiated this gentle, calm, serene warmth, and it felt like a blessing that you could be a recipient of it.

“Really?” You voiced out, feeling a bit shy because those were big words, and hearing that from a prince - despite him being as humble as ever - meant a lot to you.

“Yeah, really. Absolutely. Totally. 100%,” Minhyung exclaimed, and you let your lips curl upwards as your heart swelled.

And maybe for the first time since you had applied, you could believe that there was someone else who believed in you - not because of your previous achievements like your parents, but genuinely because he knew what was the reason for you being here -, and that was enough reassuring to get you through until the third round.

One of the most difficult things about taming a power other than the one you had been born with was finding the right amount of control. For instance, you, who had come from the Air Kingdom, had a hard time regulating your control over fire - the third of the powers you learned to tame ever since being here - because fire was wild, rough and heavy compared to air. Taming air required a certain tenderness because you needed to know the right time and energy to hold onto it and shape it as you wanted whereas fire was unpredictable and holding onto it didn’t mean that you could hold onto it longer than a few seconds. It could easily blow out of proportion if you weren’t careful, but too little energy meant that you couldn’t keep the fire alive.

That’s why you were so afraid of the third round, and it didn’t help that the judges asked the most fire exercises from you out of the three powers you could be asked to demonstrate that day. It was reasonable though since you had already demonstrated that you could deal with air and earth to the extent that they had prepared you for, but still… the magic of fire still felt so unfamiliar to you, and a wizard was as good as its familiarity with its magic.

Despite your best efforts, you faltered when it came to a ball of fire that you were supposed to put out bit by bit. You had had the most difficult time with it during preparatory classes during the week too, and it didn’t help that it was the last exercise they asked of you. You lost control over the thread of magic, and the fire was put out sooner than you could think about how to resurrect it. There was no way you could save that, and you needed to gulp back a cry of shock when the fire vanished in a blink of an eye.

You could barely hear the judges thanking you for your efforts and asking you to join the others in a separate room. You could barely register your friends’ questions when you caught sight of them in one of the rooms because you were still replaying that moment of failure in your head.

“Don’t worry, I’ve totally messed up my air demonstration, too. I nearly made a judge fly from his chair, but come on, I’m used to fire,” Dayoung tried to reassure you, but if anything, the thought of both you and Dayoung being eliminated from the contest was even worse than just you messing up. Even if you didn’t make it, you would want them to make it, so you weren’t nearly as laid-back as her.

The others had similar experiences, so it seemed that demonstrating exercises that the judges asked of you instead of putting together your own demonstrations posed a challenge, and trying to showcase three types of elemental magic was tough for everyone, especially given that you had only one week to get to know the other two elemental magic types apart from your own one.

However, it was exactly the time limit that made this contest challenging, and that would signal to the judges who would be worthy to study at the school in the future. This whole contest was supposed to mimic how you could be challenged in the future - at the wizardry school and after finishing the 2 years here -, so you knew that you couldn’t always prepare to demonstrate your powers in front of a panel of judges, and you couldn’t expect to pass a physical ability test with flying colours when you weren’t used to using your power while exercising (something that you had every other day ever since being at the school), but it was frustrating to know how little it took to shake you and sway your power.

Little by little, your group assembled, and everyone had similar experiences - messing up exercises, losing control over their power and not being able to finish tasks in time -, so it seemed that it was a challenging round for everyone. Though since you knew that it could only get more difficult after this round as each was a bit more challenging than the previous one, you had to face the fact that the contest wouldn’t be as easy as you had thought before based on the success of the second round.

It felt like a lifetime before the judges panel gathered the remaining 100 contestants to announce the ones who could go on. There were familiar names and not so familiar ones, but your heart heaved a sigh when your friends were called one after one. Minhyung, Hendery, Xiaojun and Yoojung were all given the green light and asked to wait in the next room where the theme of the fourth round would be announced, so you stood back with Dayoung to wait for the rest of the list.

The more names were called, the tighter the knot in your stomach grew, and you felt weak in the knees when there were only 3 more spaces for students left, and both you and Dayoung remained. Out of the 100 contestants, only 80 could pass this time, so you prepared yourself for the worst, mentally preparing a speech to tell your parents after they would send you home.

“Miss Y/N!”

You felt like you were in a daze when your name was called, and you didn’t even have time to reciprocate Dayoung’s supporting words, you were already ushered towards the next room. Yoojung nearly jumped onto you when she saw you, but your little group’s joy didn’t last long because not long after you came in, the door of the room closed, and a blue-haired boy named Yeonjun from the Water Kingdom came in with the judges.

“Where is Dayoung?” Yoojung exclaimed, her eyes still holding hope but leaving room for doubt. You looked around wearily, but there was no way she could have gotten in without either of you noticing, so you had to come to the conclusion that she was… eliminated.

Your heart sank. You realised that ever since you had met the others, you didn’t think of the possibility of you not finishing the contest together. No matter how unrealistic it might have been, you had just not pictured it before, so now coming face-to-face with the fact that Dayoung didn’t make it was more than painful, it stung more than it would have done so if you had prepared yourself for this scenario. Oh, how foolish you had been…

“I appreciate that this was a challenging round for all of you,” one of the judges announced, dragging you out of your stupor. You shook your head, trying to concentrate on his words, but he seemed far away, everything around you seemed far away. “So I would like to congratulate you all even more because you passed the third round,” he continued, and there was a round of applause thundering through the room, but it wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as after the second round. Only about a third of you were there compared to when you got to the dormitory, and it showed.

“The fourth round will be a physical ability-induced one. Similar to the tests you have every other day during gym classes, you will have to go through an obstacle course that tests both your physical abilities and your magical powers. So I advise you to become really familiar with the obstacle courses that the school offers, if you haven’t already, because one of them will be your demonstration next week,” he paused, letting the words sink in before continuing. “The equipment itself won’t change, but the judges might alter the magical elements a bit according to their own judgement, and you need to pass under the given time limit. More details will be revealed during your first gym classes, but those who can fairly pass under the time limit can move onto the next round, there won’t be a cap on the number of contestants who can proceed this round,” he explained in detail, and there was a murmur going through the crowd of contestants. No one seemed to particularly like the so-called gym classes even if they were supposed to prepare you for a possible magical fight, but to have it as the theme of the next round made it all the more nerve-wrecking.

Not that you could grasp the situation in that moment because you were going through many different emotions all at the same time, and it was similar to taming each different magical element you had practised before - it was difficult to put your hand on the fine line between them as it all seemed like one big mess when you were overcome by all of their energy. You still felt like you were just watching the events unfold from an outsider’s point of view when the crowd was prompted to move back to their rooms, both because you made it and both because Dayoung didn’t.

You had never given much thought to how quickly the losing contestants were dismissed because you had never walked anyone to the gate of the school to bid your farewell.

However, you only had a few hours to help Dayoung pack before the gates would close for the day, and you would need to head back to your dorms. Even though the girl wasn’t as disheartened by her departure as you all were, the atmosphere wasn’t as light as it used to be.

“Win the contest for me!” She made you promise with a wide smile, and all of you - Minhyung, Hendery, Xiaojun and you - nodded fervently. If anything, you would try even harder from now on because you didn’t want to get used to saying goodbye to the friends you made here, and you didn’t want to put the others through this again. “And promise to write to me when you’ll be attending the school, and please, pull a few pranks on Wooyoung for me. That guy annoyed the hell out of me,” she huffed by the end, and her faked annoyance made you crack a little smile. Gosh, days would be less lively without her and her googly eyes at you and Mark as well as at Yoojung and Hendery.

Since visits weren’t allowed between kingdoms, the only way you could contact anyone outside of your own kingdom was through letters. They were also inspected at the borders, but they could be passed through border control, so that was the only way you would be able to communicate with her from now on. However, until the end of the contest, letters weren’t allowed either to minimise the chances of anything getting out about the themes of the rounds, so if you were lucky, you could only connect her again when you made it to study here.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him for you,” Hendery promised with a wink, to which Yoojung almost smacked him because she had been going on about how he should have acted like a prince instead of constantly teasing others (the girl included) and making trouble. Hendery always argued that here with you all at least he could be himself, just a boy, not a prince, and that seemed enough for Yoojung to bite back her response.

“I’ll miss you all, but don’t miss me too much, focus on the contest,” Dayoung warned you jokingly before you all embraced her in a big group hug. One by one, everyone bid their goodbye to her, and when it was your turn, you hugged her tightly once more, but before you would let go, she whispered:

“I’ve wanted to tell you later, but look around yourself every once in a while, Y/N. Someone might be falling in love with you,” she told you, a secretive grin on her face when she leaned back, but before you could ask her whom she meant by that, the guards by the gates notified you that you should say your last words to each other because it was time for curfew.

So you did let go of her, but Dayoung’s words rang in your ears every now and then, and you felt like you might have become a bit paranoid as you were trying to figure out who could like you. You didn’t receive flirtatious glances from boys at the canteen - well, Yeonjun was flirty, but he did give any girl a smirk who walked past him, so he didn’t seem like a likely candidate, and when you met Changbin’s eyes one day, he looked like he would kick you out of the contest sooner than have any romantic feelings for you -, and the only boys who were around most of the time were Hendery, Xiaojun and Minhyung.

You knew Hendery had eyes only for Yoojung, and the girl seemed to slowly realise her own feelings for him, Xiaojun was Xiaojun… and well, there Minhyung whom you thought was cute, warm-hearted and who could make you laugh and smile even after Dayoung’s departure, but he couldn’t be falling in love with you, right? He was a prince after all. Even though princes didn’t have to be with princesses, they should at least marry someone of high rank - a member of the senate, a consul or someone of such importance -, and you weren’t there yet. Even if you were, what were the chances of it working out? Both your parents and his parents seemed to be really strict, so that would most probably not happen.

Plus, ever since a guy provoked Hendery and Minhyung once during lunch, accusing the contest of discrimination because you were still in the contest with the boys (he didn’t seem to know of Dayoung already being eliminated), you wanted to keep your distance a bit. You didn’t need anyone to punch Hendery in the face again over something like that.

“I can’t believe he didn’t fight back,” Yoojung murmured during the following gym class when you were behind the three boys, and they were examining the bruise on their friend’s face. The girl was literally throwing daggers with her own eyes in the direction of Jaeeon who had provoked them, but the boy in question didn’t seem to take note of her glares. He had been given a warning that if something like that happened again, he would be sent home immediately, but that wasn’t enough to calm the petite girl’s nerves.

“You were the one who told him not to cause trouble because he’s a prince. He would have gotten into more trouble if he had punched back,” you reasoned as you moved along with the line, and while it was true that Hendery would have brought more disgrace to his family’s name if he had been the one to throw the punch, you wouldn’t have blamed him either. You were glad though that Xiaojun and Minhyung had been there to keep Jaeon off the prince, so the fight hadn’t escalated, thankfully.

Gym class was tough either way without any added drama because everyone was taking the obstacle courses seriously since none of you knew which one would be used for your testing in the fourth round. The fascinating thing about these obstacle courses wasn’t that they were made up of all these different hurdles, but how they stayed laced with magic. The technique beyond that was confidential, but you doubted that your teachers were working on keeping the magical parts of them alive - flames coming from both sides of a bridge that you were supposed to cross, water licking your feet as you were trying to jump from one rope to the other above a pool of water, a hill partly made of a steep side while the ground was shaking beneath you and such - whilst watching over you. Which meant that either they were enchanted in a way to store the magic in them or… you didn’t really know. That was beyond what you could imagine, and your parents didn’t tell you about such things.

One by one, you were supposed to cross the obstacle courses while using your powers to tame the magical elements or to bend them to support your journey along the way, and while you definitely improved from your first gym class, you still felt so out of control at certain parts. You would have a time limit in the fourth round, and that added pressure to the whole obstacle course, and when your mind was occupied with time ticking by, you couldn’t focus as much as you wanted, and that added more oil to the fire, and it kept repeating in a vicious cycle.

However, since you had witnessed the scene of Hendery being punched in the face and Jeeon provoking the boys because of their social status, you felt this bubbling rage inside of you which actually came in handy when it was your turn for the course that day. You channelled all that frustration and annoyance and bittersweetness into pulling the threads of the magical energies around you, into concentrating on the hindrances at hand, and sending enough power to the specific parts along the way to help keep you going - putting out the flames, tempering down the water beneath your feet, stopping the shaking of the ground and pacifying the wind around you. It worked because you managed to beat everyone’s record so far, but it also resulted in you being exceptionally weary after finishing.

“Oh my god, Y/N! You were on fire!” Yoojung hollered beside you when you made it through the given obstacle course for the day. You tried with a grateful smile, but it turned into more like a wince when you felt surges of pain shoot through your legs. Oh yeah, the all too familiar consequences of the adrenaline rush were kicking in, something that you had not yet gotten used to.

You took a few steps closer to the girl who was holding out a flask of water in your direction, but your legs felt wobbly, and you would have fallen if it had not been for someone catching your arms.

You looked up, half-expecting someone who was less of a stranger, not the boy whom you had been trying to stay away from since yesterday, but your heart betrayed you as it heaved a relieved sigh. It was silly, your brain told you, you only knew Minhyung for almost three weeks, you couldn’t have known him that well, and yet, your heart told you that you would be safe beside him, he got your back. But why? You had been searching for people’s hidden intentions all your life because your parents warned you not to make friends but rather allies because it was a cruel world out there after all, and yet… you could not find a possible hidden intention behind his big doe eyes twinkling and his lips forming the words, his brows furrowed solicitously:

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” you bobbed your head, your eyes wandering to your arms that were held by Minhyung’s own, safe and sound, steady yet gentle. You were so used to holding yourself up, holding your head above the water, and not accepting anyone’s help like that, that you were dumbfounded as to what to do next, how to put an end to this.

“Get moving, jeez,” someone behind you rumbled, but before you could turn around to see who it was, it was probably that someone who pushed past with their shoulder crashing into yours. You had no time to react, your legs moved forward automatically, yet Minhyung’s didn’t, and you ended up falling down… together. To be precise, you falling onto him, and him holding you up by the waist.

And then, your heart betrayed you yet again as it skipped a beat. Even though your lungs had been on fire just a minute ago, now they were on fire for a different reason, and it was difficult to grasp what it was when all you could see was the depth of his orbs like tiny lakes with clear surfaces yet mysterious bottoms. All the outside noises seemed to fade away, your surroundings numbed as your heart raced alongside his as if the obstacle course had not ended yet.

Pushing aside the confusion regarding your own feelings, the one thing that you noticed and managed to blurt out was:

“You’re blushing,” you noted, your lips slightly parted, and despite having seen him flushed beside you and around you, you somehow felt like it was new… it was different this time.

“I’m not blushing,” the boy objected, his face taking on an even deeper shade.

“You are, dude,” Xiaojun called, and when you recognised his voice, all the hustle bustle of the gym class and all the outside noises came back at you in full force, making you feel dizzy. Somehow, falling onto him seemed almost serene compared to the mess around you.

You were both up to your feet in no time, and despite your friends’ stares and teasing words, you couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the twinkling sensation that the boy’s touch left on your skin - it was as if he had marked you permanently, and you couldn’t get it off yourself.

It wasn’t only the room that you shared with Yoojung that became quieter without Dayoung’s presence, but the halls also became quieter, less lively. As if the walls could talk, students usually kept to themselves, and since you were scattered across different floors, the diminishing number of students seemed more striking. Now, you caught sight of the guards stationed by the entrance to the dormitory instead of being occupied with the conversations with your roommates, and the corridors seemed wider than before.

Everyone seemed tenser than usual, and it wasn’t limited to your little group only. Aside from Jaeeon, there had been a girl who had accused Gahyeon’s senate member parents of bribing the jury and had sent a streak of water at her who had managed to dodge it thanks to her quick reflexes, but the girl in question had only received a warning. You didn’t understand why, but your parents had warned you that it would be tough with all of the contestants wanting to make it to the final, and had told you that there were quite nasty incidents in the past, so the organisers had already seen a lot. That’s why disqualification was only after a warning or after a life-threatening move on a contestant’s side.

You didn’t think too much into it though, not until you were walking back to your room alone after practising for the fourth round, and the fire of the torches on both your left and right was suddenly put out. Since they were always on, it could only mean that someone put them out.

You listened to the approaching steps, trying to put your hand on the direction the sound was coming from, and as you turned around, you caught sight of Jaeeon walking towards you, his silhouette illuminated by the lights that he hadn’t yet put out.

You raised your chin, unwavering in the face of danger, because no matter how much Jaeeon thought that he had the upper hand, you weren’t a fragile little doll either. You felt your fingers prickling with the same kind of electricity it usually did before you unleash your magic, and just as Jaeeon was about to come to a halt a step away from you, you lit up the torches by your side. That much you could already summon with your ability to tame fire.

The guy let out a scoff, borderline amused, his eyebrows elevated slightly. His whole stance screamed hunger, hunger for control, hunger for a challenge, hunger for winning. Even though you weren’t supposed to use magic outside of practices or classes, let alone around others to manipulate the contest, you had already seen instances when it had not mattered, so you knew that the currently empty corridor wasn’t a completely safe space either. You forced yourself to stay calm though as you turned around, ready to get away from him - to ask for another student’s assistance or a guard’s help who could be patrolling the corridors at this time around.

“Are you really running away, little girl?” Jaeeon accused you, the nickname prickling at your skin. The implication behind his words sent an unpleasant chill down your spine, but you reminded yourself that it was exactly what he was trying to do: to trample on your ego, to make you question your worth and bravery. “You don’t have your little prince friends to protect you, and mommy and daddy aren’t here either to save you,” he continued relentlessly as he caught up with you, and even though you didn’t reach the end of the corridor, you were halfway through it.

“A girl like you is only wasting her time here. You should prepare to get married and pop out some kids, not to take someone’s place in a contest like this,” he added when you still didn’t speak up, and you bit down on your tongue to hold back what you were about to say. You knew that he wanted to rile you up, and you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction to see you give in, but still…

“Is it that hard for you to accept that a girl dared to beat all of the boys’ records in an obstacle course yesterday? Do you feel like by spitting this nonsense, I might feel scared and would rather pack my bags and leave?” You threw your questions at him as you threw him a side-glance. He was so annoyingly full of himself and the fact that he felt better only if he could bring others down made you sick to your stomach.

“Besides, a girl can enter the contest just as much as a boy can, and it is not against the rules,” you recited as you kept your gaze ahead of yourself instead of the boy walking beside you, but it was like talking to a wall. Just to prove to you that he didn’t play by the rules, the boy reached for your wrist and made you turn towards him.

“Do you think anyone cares here?”

His words were dripping with anger and frustration, but as to why he directed it towards you - when it wasn’t anyone’s fault that he felt threatened by those better than him even though he was the son of the head of the senate - was beyond you. Accusing you of still being in the contest was like speaking against himself too, but it might have helped him to sleep better at nights.

That didn’t mean that you had to put up with this, especially not when you felt his grip around your wrist getting… warm, and you winced when you felt the searing touch of his. He was using his fire magic on you, the burning sensation coming from his fingers directly, and you knew that he was stronger than you, so you didn’t have a chance to escape his grip, not when his touch was literally burning in the meantime.

Nevertheless, your rage regarding his audacity of using his magic on you was stronger than the pain you had to bear, and you felt a bolt of energy rushing through your body as the window beside you flew open, and you sent a gush of wind towards the boy. At first, it wasn’t strong enough to make him tear away, only to surprise him, but the more currents of air you could collect, the stronger your magic became.

You faintly heard someone calling your name in the distance, but all your focus was on the thread of magic inside and outside of you, and you shut everything else out. You concentrated on gathering all that power and channelling it onto the boy until you managed to push him away, making him fly a few metres before landing on the floor with a loud thud a few metres away from you.

You felt your legs wobble a bit after using all that energy in such a short span of time, and you might have fallen to the ground if someone had not held you up, framing your body. You had no more resistance left in you to push him away, but you were lucky that you didn’t because you got to know who he was a second later.

“Enough!” A thunderous voice could be heard in the silent corridor, and you looked up at the professor who taught you how to use the magic of earth, and who now assisted you to keep your feet on the ground. You saw another professor by his side, a woman who taught you how to train your mind to channel your powers, and they both seemed to be incredibly furious.

“Mr Park, you should have known better than to attack a student yet again. No matter who your father is, he isn’t here to save you, but the director will be waiting for you in his office. If you try with anything else on the way, just know that professor Choi and I were here to have heard how you provoked Miss Y/N. We could see how she tried to protect herself against you when you were breaking the rules yet again.”

“But professor Kim, I think she broke one of my ribs!”

“Speaking up in the right moments and keeping quiet when needed is a forte, Mr Park, and it seems that you do not possess it,” professor Choi warned him and she made her way towards the boy who was tossing on the ground like a kid who was throwing a fit. She had never seemed this intimidating during classes, but now you would have been afraid of her if her glaring eyes had been on you. Jaeeon seemed to get the message though as he got to his feet, though reluctantly and holding onto his side, but before he could even raise his arms, professor Choi snapped her fingers, and the boy’s arms were tied back by the sheer force of… magic.

Your jaw almost dropped, but you were too weary to react properly, so you just blinked at the duo as they were getting further away and eventually got out of sight after turning a corner. You still didn’t manage to pull yourself together when professor Kim started asking questions and ushered you towards the infirmary where a kind lady tended to your burn marks.

Even though you heard about healers who possessed a specific kind of magic that could undo such wounds, you had never met one, yet now you were blinking at your burn marks slowly fading and eventually disappearing.

“I… wow… thank you so much!” You blurted out, still in shock, but even her magic couldn’t erase the phantom feeling of the burning sensation around your wrist. You reckoned that it wouldn’t go away easily.

The lady smiled at you in a friendly way before putting some kind of cream on your skin, then wrapped your wrists in a bandage.

“Keep it on for the next two days, it will help to soothe all layers of the skin because I can only tend to the outer layer. Use the cream twice a day too, in the morning and at night, and it will heal completely afterwards,” she instructed gently, and you bobbed your head fervently as you received a pack of fresh bandages for changing and a tube of the said cream from the healer.

Professor Kim stayed beside you the whole time, but he didn’t say anything while the lady was tending to your wounds. He only spoke up when you were out of the infirmary, and he told you that they would station more guards in the corridors, but you shouldn’t worry because Jaeeon would surely be disqualified for trying to hurt you. Serves him right, you thought to yourself, but truthfully, so much had happened in such a short span of time that you felt like relief was a far away feeling in that moment.

“You were really strong back there. I have not seen your magic in such an intensity before,” professor Kim complimented with a fatherly smile of his, and you bobbed your head gratefully, albeit a bit timidly.

Well, it seemed that when you were in the face of danger, your magic didn’t abandon you or drain you, but rather, it empowered you, and despite the fact that it took Jaeeon to be disqualified, you could now believe that you were here for a reason. That you would be able to make a change while standing up for yourself and standing strong.

Needless to say, everyone got to know about your little incident pretty quickly because Jaeeon was forcefully sent home, and he sure made a hell of a show out of it as he sulked beside the guards who accompanied him through the corridors and outside the gates. The teachers also assembled the students to remind you all that rules had to be kept or else the consequences would follow. In their announcement, they briefly summarised Jaeeon’s wrongdoings including his recent attack which meant that all eyes were on you and your bandaged hand in an instant. Additionally, in order to set an example, they tightened security and stationed more guards along the corridors of the dormitory and even along the corridors to the training rooms.

Not that it mattered when your little group acted as if another Jaeeon could jump out from a drawer and attack you. It didn’t matter that you told them that you were fine, no permanent damage was done, and you could take care of yourself from now on just like you had done so before.

“My parents warned me that this competition would be a matter of life or death for some, so I should brace myself for such atrocities. I didn’t expect anything less,” you told them over dinner that night, and the chopsticks made a loud snapping sound when Yoojung dropped them on the table beside her bowls.

“Yah, why are those words something that you must accept? No contest should ever make you fear for your life. No contest is more important than someone’s life. This is not the war that had broken apart the United Kingdom of Magic,” she fumed like a bull, and honestly, in that moment, you couldn’t tell whether she was furious at you, your parents or at what had happened between you and Jaeeon.

It’s just… you knew that the girl meant well, but you had to give it to your parents that this contest brought the worst out of some people. Some of them really acted like their life depended on whether they made it to the finals or not, and if they had parents like you did (or the opposite, they had nothing, so they had to prove themselves and the others that they could make it despite their disadvantageous background), you would understand them. After all, part of the reason why you were here was because of your own parents.

“Yoojung’s right. You shouldn’t keep it to yourself if you’re frustrated or hurt. Just because these things could happen and might have happened in the past doesn’t mean that they should be the norm, that they shouldn’t change,” Minhyung reasoned once the silence that fell over the five of you didn’t seem that heavy anymore. The boy’s words were accompanied by fervent nods of the other two boys and your roommate as well.

“What can I do about it though? I can only hope no one else tries to attack me again.”

“Let us help you. You might think it’s silly to accompany you everywhere, but we definitely should do so for the time being,” Minhyung continued, his big doe eyes shining brightly. Even though you had tried to keep your distance from him and the other boys since their own incident with Jaeeon, it seemed futile now. You were too weary to push them away, and honestly, after what had happened earlier, you were glad to have allies by your side.

“Yeah, we’ll be like your bodyguards,” Xiaojun hollered as it was the best idea ever, but Hendery laughed his words off as if he had been joking. Xiaojun glared at him, slightly offended, but the other boy didn’t seem to notice.

“You? A bodyguard? Please, even I’m stronger than you.”

“What? No way! In your dreams, maybe.”

“I’m better at the obstacle course than you are, dude. It means either I’m physically stronger than you, or I’m a better wizard,” Hendery flashed him a grin, one of his eyebrows elevated in a teasing line, and Xiaojun could only huff in response since it was the truth.

“Oh god, they are worse than a group of girls,” Yoojung muttered under her nose and averted her eyes from the continuously bickering boys. She prompted you to eat up before your food would get cold, and you nodded. You didn’t have it in you to protest, and with Minhyung’s worried eyes still on you, you didn’t even want to make him more concerned, so you finished your dinner while listening to the bickering of Xiaojun and Hendery, something that managed to lift your mood a little.

As promised, the boys accompanied you and Yoojung to your room, and little did you know, that became a habit of theirs. At least until Xiaojun was sent home because he didn’t manage to finish the obstacle course in time (but he was pretty close, Hendery consoled him, taking back his words that he was better at that than the boy when you bid him your goodbyes by the gates), and so your little group was reduced from 6 to 4 whilst the number of contestants went from 200 to 32 in the past 3 weeks. Only one round was left, but you wondered just how many of you would pass the final round or be sent home.

Just like when Dayoung had departed, Xiaojun’s lack of presence was also palpable. Hendery couldn’t tease anyone since Minhyung wasn’t the kind he could bicker with because he wasn’t one who talked back (even playfully) to others. Minhyung frequently turned his head to the empty seat that was left behind when you sat in the canteen, and Yoojung seemed somewhat more protective over the remaining three of you.

You talked a lot with the girl at nights after you were done with your training for the day and after curfew, more or less serious topics arising in the darkness under the watching eyes of the moon. She was so similar in the way she was raised up, and her fears were also similar to yours, and it felt good to be understood by someone like her. It felt like you were less alone, especially after what had happened with Jaeeon and especially after how you had already needed to say goodbye to two of your friends.

Even though you hadn’t had any friends before, you would consider them your friends now, and it broke your heart that you might not end up making it to the wizardry school together. After Dayoung and Xiaojun had lost in the previous rounds, you didn’t dare to hope for a happy ending for everyone. Not when the next round’s theme was to compete against each other 1-on-1, but you would only know who your opponent would be on the day of the final round. You didn’t want to go against your friends, but there was still a chance that you might do so considering that there were only 32 of you left. So you not only had to worry about having to use your powers on another contestant, but also that it could be Hendery, Yoojung or Minhyung.

No wonder your nerves were more and more frazzled the closer you were to the day of the final round. Hence, you decided to escape to the terrace of the tower two days before the final round, looking over the buildings around - the senate building, the houses provided for the senate and council members, the building with the infantry and the canteen. It was crazy to think that 5 weeks almost passed by since you first entered the contest, and you were about to wrap it up soon.

A month ago, you had entered the gates for the first time that were now covered in the dim light of the torches attached to the walls and guarded by two muscular men, and you had been determined to make it to the wizardry school. Since then, you had managed to make friends, you had encountered enemies who had attacked you, and you had pushed your magic to the limit many times. You had been physically and emotionally weary, and you had wondered many times whether you would be enough, whether your magic and willpower to tame other kinds of elemental magic would be enough to be like your parents - to be a winner of the contest.

A month ago, you had wanted nothing more than to be over with it because you had been sure that you wouldn’t get along well with others, and you had been set on focusing on learning and wielding your magic only. After all, being part of the contest and learning from the highly influential wizards who were chosen as professors were already something that others could only dream of.

Yet now, you wanted nothing more than to stop time and enjoy being around those who had grown close to you because there was no guarantee that two days from now on, you would all stay together. After that, who knew when you would see each other again, especially with those who were from different kingdoms.

“Mind if I join you?” A gentle, all too familiar voice asked, and you snapped your head to look back at the sudden visitor. You were so lost in thought that you hadn’t even realised that someone else had showed up by the door to the terrace.

“Sure,” you replied, still a bit dazed, as you averted your eyes to the scenery in front of you. You heard Minhyung’s footsteps getting closer, and eventually, he sat down beside you.

He just sat there for a while without saying a word, his heart probably as heavy as yours. You couldn’t help but wonder whether he was also bitter about the contest ending because it was such a different experience for him compared to his time at the palace. A few days prior, he and Hendery had discussed how free they felt here because people didn’t watch their every move  here, they weren’t princes and heirs to the throne, they were contestants just like everyone else. Minhyung had also blurted out that this was the first time in his life he felt like he could be completely himself, and you hadn’t stopped thinking about that ever since.

“Are you scared of the final round? Of whom would you be up against?” You wondered out loud, hoping that he didn’t mind your question. Whenever your little group was together, it never came up, although you were sure that each and every one of you was pondering over the same. It was just difficult to bring it up when most probably everyone was anxious about the possibility of going against one another.

Minhyung looked at you, his big doe eyes wide in wonder and contemplation. Some said that the eyes were a replica of one’s magic, and it might have been true in the boy’s case because his eyes were bright like stars in the sky, and the onyx-black colour of them was like an endless, bottomless wonder. His orbs radiated warmth, and when he looked at you like that, it felt as if a gentle breeze embraced you. Yet, there was strength behind that warmth, strength that promised to keep you up, to reach out a hand if you were to fall down, and strength that would be able to move mountains if he wanted to.

“I’m just afraid it would be one of you. Other than that, I’m just sad it’s coming to an end. As much as it was difficult to endure, it gave me many good memories that I wouldn’t have had living at the palace,” he responded, his voice barely above audible. Maybe it was because of the early autumn breeze that danced around you two or because he wasn’t that sure about his answer, but he was quieter than usual. The looming uncertainty of the contest had its effect on everyone.

You bobbed your head nevertheless, taking in his answer. You couldn’t relate to him because you hadn’t grown up in a palace, but your parents had kept you pretty secluded from others apart from sending you to a wizardry school to tame your air element and outside of extra practices with other wizards. You had been told to be wary of everyone because you could never know what their intentions were, and even though you had long realised that your parents were over exaggerating, you had given up on making meaningful connections. That is until you had come here, and it had dawned on you that there was a whole world outside of magic no matter how much magic meant to you.

“If you had the chance, would you want to be reborn as someone else, not as prince Minhyung?” You found yourself asking after a few moments of silence, your own thoughts regarding your experience growing up making you curious about his side.

Minhyung clicked his tongue, unsure what to say for a few moments. Then, he let out a somewhat resigned sigh as he came to a conclusion.

“It’s difficult to say. I’m glad to have the life I have, but it has its restrictions, you know,” he shrugged as if he was fine with it, and you didn’t have a reason to question him. Then, he turned to you with his whole body, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “What about you? Have you never dreamed of being a princess?”

You didn’t know what to say for a moment, you were so shocked by his question. Truthfully, you had never really given yourself the chance to imagine yourself as a princess, maybe because you had always been so occupied with who your own parents were. That’s why you merely let out a wholehearted chuckle upon his question, a joyous sound that was swept up by the autumn breeze passing around.

“Oh god, no,” you shook your head, even just the image of you in all those fancy, tight-fitting dresses making you shiver. That was not a life you wanted for yourself. “I don’t think princesses have it any easier than me. Besides, they have to fake their smiles all the time, and I don’t think I could do that for a long time.”

“Fair point,” Minhyung tilted his head, his facial expressions returning to their previous solemn state, a sign that what he was about to say would be genuine and raw. “I think we have it bad at times too, but princesses…” He shook his head, and you could swear he shivered a bit. “They have it even worse. You too, women, do have it harder. I’ve always thought that might be an exaggeration, but I’ve heard enough here during the contest to know that it’s not,” he confessed, and his words took you aback.

Since he didn’t have a sister and his mother - the Queen - was treated very differently than an ordinary woman living outside of the palace, he might not have known just how difficult being a woman with magic was. There were significantly more men in the kingdoms’ councils and in the senate, and there were more male professors here as well, simply because women were supposed to give birth to children and with that, a part of their magic lived on in their children’s bodies, meaning that people believed that they were less powerful than men. Which wasn’t always the case because mothers with less magic than before could still be more powerful than men who didn’t tend to their magic, but people believed whatever they wanted to believe. Your mother had also fought hard to maintain her position as a senate member and to have the respect of the senate members, but it helped that your father was working in the senate alongside him.

So for him to admit something like that truly showed his maturity and his compassion. You had never heard anyone admit that women had it harder than men, and this confession coming from a man was even more admirable. Not to mention that he was a prince, and the royal families were famous for not acknowledging the faults in the systems they had put in place, no wonder your heart skipped a beat. If he had not already earned your respect, he would have definitely done so now.

“That’s something that I want to change if I have the chance,” you added, knowing that he wouldn’t be appalled by your words, and indeed, he was far from bewildered.

“You will,” he said encouragingly instead, and when your eyes met, your heart leaped. Somehow with him by your side, you could believe it, you could believe that you would be able to bring about a change. “Even if you won’t, I will help you change it,” he promised solicitously, the moonlight painting little streaks of dirty white lines onto his skin. As the prince of the Air Kingdom, he really did look like the epitome of air - you felt like you could breathe beside him, and it was a little easier and lighter to be around him than anyone else, his warmth filling up your lungs and planting little seeds of hope alongside your blood vessels.

More than ever, you wanted nothing more than to stop time and enjoy that moment just a little longer.

The rules were simple for the final round, though they were more like guidelines. You had 15 minutes to win over your opponent. You could use all of the different kinds of elemental magic that you had been learning how to tame, but you couldn’t use other weapons - such as knives or daggers -, so you had to rely on air, earth, fire and water solely. Your aim was to make your opponent say that they surrender, so you will automatically win the fight, not to kill them or hurt them badly. Each contestant’s fighting gear was designed to protect them against serious injuries, so you wore tight-fitted clothes that covered your legs, arms and even your neck. The material gave you enough flexibility to move around and channel your magic, and your training boots gave you enough hold in case you needed to climb or keep your feet on the ground against currents of magic.

On top of that, each pair was put in a training room that had the elements of an obstacle course dotted around - such as steep climbing walls, a pool of water and wooden boards -, and enough space to fight in the middle in case someone didn’t want to make use of the equipment around. Each room was designed to be able to gather all kinds of elemental magic, so no one could be at a disadvantage when calling for the kind of magic they wanted. If a fight got too intense or appeared threatening to a contestant’s life, the judges who would otherwise be stationed by the sides of the rooms would interrupt the game.

The judges also had the right to stop a fight, to disqualify a contestant for breaching the rules, or to select a winner if the time limit was up. In the case of the latter, the judges could choose whether they would give both contestants the chance to win, only one of them or neither of them. That’s why it was better if one could win the fight within the time limit because that would guarantee an immediate pass.

There were 16 pairs in total, and you would be separated into four groups, each group having the same room for themselves with the same set of judges overlooking the fight. If needed, the judges would move the materials inside the room around and clean up after between two rounds to ensure fairness.

Yet, the most important of them all was the final list of pairs that was announced after the judges read the rules out loud yet again - the same set of rules that they had introduced a week prior. The more names were called, the more anxious you became, and even though it seemed that contestants from mostly different kingdoms were put together, it didn’t help to soothe your nerves because only Minhyung could be ruled out. Boys and girls were also up against each other, not only same sex pairs were announced, so there was no way you could predict whom you could be up against.

“Kim Seunghun from the Fire Kingdom will be against Ju Haknyeon from the Earth Kingdom. Bong Jaehyun from the Air Kingdom will be against Kim Bora from the Water Kingdom,” the list went on, and you could feel Yoojung beside you becoming more and more uneasy. She started shifting her weight from her left leg to her right, and you gave her a half-smile when she caught you glancing her way.

“Lee Yongsoo from the Earth Kingdom will be against prince Minhyung from the Air Kingdom.”

You let out a relieved sigh when you heard Minhyung’s name being called, and turned to your left to see the boy doing the same. Yongsoo was a nice guy, not an easy opponent, but at least he wasn’t one of you. One down, three more to worry about.

“Kim Yubin from the Fire Kingdom will be against Y/N from the Air Kingdom,” the announcer listed, and you heaved a sigh. Yubin was pretty intense as most fire wizards were, but you and Yoojung had been helping each other to train, so you knew what weaknesses to look out for and what kind of techniques you could pull on her to make her surrender. You hoped that what you had been practising before wouldn’t leave you within those 15 minutes either. Most important of all: you weren’t up against either of your friends.

“Park Serim from the Earth Kingdom will be against Choi Yewon from the Air Kingdom. Shen Xiaoting from the Fire Kingdom will be against Kim Jibeom from the Water Kingdom. Prince Hendery from the Water Kingdom will be against Choi Yoojung from the Fire Kingdom.”

An audible curse word left Yoojung’s lips in the next moment, followed by some murmurs from the others around. Everyone knew that the four of you had become pretty close, so this exact pairing seemed to be the most interesting one for others so far. The murmurs grew so loud that the announcer had to order them to keep quiet before announcing the rest of the pairs.

You reached for Yoojung’s hand to squeeze it, but the girl didn’t squeeze back. Instead, she stared at something behind you, and when you followed her gaze, you could see that they were staring at each other with Hendery in shock. You could totally understand their bewilderment, and truthfully, you didn’t want to think about who would win the fight. They were both so powerful, so skilled, you could only hope that they would both make it after the time limit would be up. That was the only way both of them would be able to win, and honestly, if you could hope for one thing, it would be that both of them make it.

You had no time to ponder over the possible outcome of the final round as the list of the pairings soon came to an end, and the contestants were ushered in the direction of their appointed rooms. You shared a quick glance with Minhyung who directed an encouraging smile at you, and you tried to smile back, though you had no idea how nervous it might have turned out. In no time, you were separated from all three of them as your group headed in a different direction than theirs, so you could only keep them in their thoughts and hope for the best.

A chill ran down your spine as it dawned on you that this was it; there was nowhere to hide now, no way you could escape your future. Whatever lied ahead of you, however the final round would turn out, it would be over, and it would most definitely seal your fate. It was now or never, and if not for yourself or for your parents, you had to win for your friends. You wanted to enter the wizardry school, and you wanted to study with them. There was no other way it should play out, you had to win.

Within your group, Serim and Yewon were the first ones to go, and you would follow right after. Your opponent, Yubin didn’t say a word to you before you were called inside, but you didn’t mind. You weren’t friends to wish each other good luck, nor were you enemies to spit at each other before you would go against each other. Mentally, you tried to prepare for the adrenaline rush and the intensity of the fight, but nothing could prepare for what was about to come.

Those approximately 15 minutes until the doors to the room flew open again seemed like an eternity, and the more you tried to calm yourself, the more nervous you felt. The anxiety that had been going through your body in the previous rounds couldn’t be compared to how you were feeling now.

You sucked in a deep breath when you walked into the room, and despite the fact that you had been here before, it wasn’t the same. Not the setting, not your state, and definitely not what was at stake.

“Remember, you have 15 minutes. 3 minutes and then 1 minute before the time limit is up, we will let you know that the end of the round is approaching. Now, give it your all! Good luck!” One of your professors introduced and with a flick of his hand, the torches alongside the walls of the training room bolted, lighting up the equipment around, signalling the beginning of the fight.

You looked around briefly, taking in the sources of magic - the pool of water, the fire in the torches, the air sweeping through the ceiling that was open fully and the trees swaying on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows -, and the equipment that you could work with - a climbing wall, a ladder made of ropes hanging above the pool of water that connected a wooden bench to a smaller version of a look-out tower. There was a giant oak tree with lowly hanging branches - you had no idea how they managed to summon that inside as you had never seen one in an obstacle course before -, and there was a rotating circular platform with a variety of different sized pillars attached to the platform.

You could see from the corner of your eyes how Yubin took in your surroundings before she made the first move. As expected, she used her own magic to attack with first - throwing a fireball at you - and since you had a feeling she would do so, you swiftly reached out your hand in the direction of the pool and threw a ball of water against the fireball. The two currents of magic collided in the middle.

You gathered the threads of air around you and pushed it towards the girl who stumbled a bit backwards, but not enough to gain an advantage. So you gave it another push, forcing the girl to jump on the circular platform if she didn’t want to be thrown off by it. In the meantime, you made your way towards the tree, trying to gather as much energy from the earth as possible.

Your plan was to shake the ground enough for the girl to keep swaying after she got off the moving platform, but you couldn’t summon enough of its magic in time. Instead, Yubin threw another fireball at you, and it would have hurt you (but not burned your body apart from your face since your protective gear would take care of it) if you hadn’t managed to jump out of its direction.

Afterwards, you kept pushing currents of energy into the other’s direction, but no matter how hard you tried, the girl always stood up after falling down or managed to weaken your magic with her own - sending little drops of water back at you with her air current when you tried to send a rush of water at her or putting out your fire when you tried to burn the wooden bench beneath her feet.

“3 minutes left!” The judges shouted over the noises of your fight, and the knot in your throat became tighter. You had to think of something to use against her and to surprise her with because you might not be able to win against her in time if you didn’t do so.

So instead of attacking, you used the air around you to carry you towards the look-out tower at one end of the ladder with Yubin being on the other end of it. Thinking that you might want to burn down the ladder of ropes between you two, the girl started running towards you, but little did she know, that’s exactly what you wanted her to think so whilst you were summoning the magic of water in the pool beneath her. Despite the fact that water wasn’t your elemental magic, you didn’t need to think whether you could be gentle enough with it because you wanted the opposite: you had to use the water to lash out on her to make her falter, so that she would fall into the water.

“What the…” You could hear Yubin exclaim as the water beneath her started bubbling, and then you reached your hands out to aim your attack at her. The water shot into her and instead of falling down into the pool, the girl was thrown into the air carried by the wild waves before she was thrown off to the ground beside the pool.

You fell to your knees after the rush of magic left your body. It was as if the air was sucked out of your lungs, you had never used so much energy on one spectacle before. You fought for air just as much as Yubin did so, but the girl also coughed up water, her whole body trembling after she was basically thrown off by a huge strike of water.

You felt your heart hammering in your chest, your body screaming for rest, but it couldn’t stop, the adrenaline kept you going. So you got to your feet, holding up your hands to gather more energy, but when Yubin caught sight of your move, she lifted one of her hands, and announced, still panting:

“I surrender.”

The weight of the word didn’t even get to you at first, but when it did, you fell back to your knees - out of joy this time. You did it, you really did it. You won this round, and it meant that you were one of the finalists of the contest.

“Congratulations, Y/N! You won your final round,” one of the judges confirmed, but it felt like he was speaking from somewhere far away, you were still so into the game, your brain was still trying to come up with ideas to win, and that feeling didn’t go away easily.

You still felt jumpy as if you had to be prepared for another attack when you were instructed to leave the room and wait for the remaining two pairs in your group to finish. You didn’t know why, but each contestant was sent into a different room where a nurse tended to their potential bruises, cold bodies, slight concussions and such. You also had a few scratches, but you could barely concentrate on anything other than the fact that you made it.

No wonder time seemed to move differently when you were in such a dazed state, and it felt like only a few minutes passed by, not more than half an hour when you were called in for the wrap-up of the contest. Judged by the number of contestants called into one place, you guessed that they were the winners, and when you spotted Minhyung in the crowd, you smiled so wide, it almost hurt. The boy threw away any insecurities as he rushed to embrace you, warm and tight, before letting go of you when embarrassment hit him (hit both of you), blushing a bit.

“Sorry. I just…”

“No, no, that’s okay,” you waved off his excuses immediately, but your face flushed just as well. You gave him a nervous chuckle, and he did the same, and gosh, the certainty of knowing that you would spend the next 2 years studying at the same wizardry school as him warmed your heart.

After exchanging a few words with Minhyung, you looked around, searching for a familiar pair of fired-up eyes or the familiar messy locks of deep-brown hair. Truthfully, you hoped that Hendery and Yoojung would silently agree on waiting out the 15 minutes without announcing surrender, but judging by the frazzled up state of Yoojung’s, it didn’t exactly go like that.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” the girl held up her hand, frowning, before you could ask how it went, and even though you exchanged a confused glance with Minhyung, you decided not to push the girl for details.

Not that you had time to do so because the judges announced the end of the contest, and congratulated those contestants who were in the room because you were the ones who won the final battle and ultimately made it into the wizardry school. You saw a few familiar faces around - including the muscular Changbin, his equally muscular roommate Serim and their ever so flirtatious friend Yeonjun, the classy Xiaoting, the jokester Seunghun, the fierce Gahyeon, Tzuyu and Yeoreum who shared the room on your left, Yohan who was Xiaojun’s roommate - and there were other girls and boys whose names you couldn’t quite remember, but none of them was Hendery, so you didn’t want to pry until Yoojung was ready to talk about it.

“And now, you can bid goodbye to your peers who didn’t make it, and you can all pack up to head home before coming back here to study with us. See you in 2 weeks, our prosperous students, the future of the Four Kingdoms’ United School of Applied Elemental Magic!”

Loud cheers reverberated from the walls after the judges put an end to the closing ceremony, and you became one with the relieved crowd as you walked down the corridors to go back to your rooms.

The corridors of your future school.

There were a lot of different kinds of goodbyes. For the past weeks, you felt like you had experienced quite a lot of them. It wasn’t the same saying goodbye to your parents with the weight of their expectations on your soldier as saying goodbye to the friends you had made when they had been sent home or now when you were saying goodbye to the school building for 2 weeks before moving in again.

You all - both winners and the ones who lost in the final round - had one day to pack your stuff and leave the school buildings behind. The winners had to pick up their certification regarding their result as well, but it’s not like you were treated differently on your final day. You would have two years either way to get to know the professors, each other and all the little corners and corridors of the buildings that you hadn’t yet been to. You had all the time on your hands now despite the fact that you felt like you had been running against time week after week whilst being in the contest.

Thankfully, no one threw a tantrum, no one made a scene when the final results were out, so the day you had to pack and bid your farewell was spent in peace. Truthfully, you were immensely relieved that you had passed the final round, but you were also weary from using up so much of your energy the day before (and all the other days before), so you didn’t have a lot of energy left to celebrate. Yoojung was the same, she was rather frustrated over the fact that Hendery had purposefully surrendered, or at least, she thought so.

“It’s not like I didn’t go easy on him. I did so because I wanted us to hold onto until the end of the 15 minutes, so the judges would let us pass. Instead, almost right before the time limit was up, the boy shouted that he surrendered when I burned down the tree beside him. That’s it, I didn’t even hurt him seriously! He did it on purpose to let me pass, that dumbass. I was so angry at him because this wasn’t our plan! And when I asked him why he did this, he said that he had his reason. That coward, he didn’t even want to tell me!” She huffed, rolling her eyes in annoyance while packing her clothes into a bag.

Her usual chattering was replaced by her fuming, her wide smiles replaced by deep creases on her forehead. You knew that she wasn’t one to mess with when she was agitated (she was from the Fire Kingdom after all, her stare felt intense and flaming hot when she was mad), so you let her complain all about the boy. The best thing you could do was to not take sides, even when she claimed that she didn’t want Hendery to explain himself afterwards because he had his chance to do so, now she didn’t even want to see him again.

She eventually did so anyway because Minhyung and Hendery seemed to be waiting for you two in the hall, all packed up and ready to go home. Yoojung was stern like a rock beside you the whole time the boys were chatting about how they couldn’t decide whose socks were on the floor because neither of them had packed for themselves, it had been their servants from their respective palace.

As you listened to the boys’ chatter, you realised that Hendery didn’t look regretful, not at all. You assumed that he knew what he had done, and he took responsibility for it, so you didn’t want to question his actions. Instead, you joined in on the conversation when they were talking about their favourite memories from the contest, and eventually, you all walked through the gates of the wizardry school, leaving the school grounds.

You caught sight of your father standing idly by himself not far from the gates and there were carriages stationed around the giant fountain that symbolised the four kingdoms’ appreciation for the school - four different hands reaching for one circle in the middle -, so you guessed that courtiers were sent for the princes as well.

“Oh, I think I’ve gotta go,” Minhyung concluded as he looked around, and he scratched the back of his neck rather sheepishly when he turned back to you all. He did an odd hand shake with Hendery (did they come up with it themselves?), bobbed his head at the still frowning Yoojung, then looked at you, and suddenly, he looked completely unsure of himself, his fingers clenching and unclenching.

“I’ve gotta go, too. See you guys in two weeks!” Yoojung announced abruptly, then turned on her heel without further notice, and started walking further away from you. Hendery looked totally dumbstruck before bolting after the girl without saying a word to you.

You and Minhyung exchanged a glance after you had awoken from your stupor. Then, your lips turned into awkward little curves, the right words not appearing on your tongue. There was so much to say, so much to reminisce about, and yet… You just stood there awkwardly like two little kids.

You couldn’t help but be reminded of his warm hug after the final round, and deep down, you wished that he would do it again. If there was an embodiment of comfort, it would be him, and you were enchanted, under his spell, there was no other way to explain why you were feeling the way you did. You had been close to him before as well - when you had fallen over him during the obstacle course -, but it had been accidental back then. Yet, his hug could not have been accidental the day before.

“So…” The boy unclenched his jaw as he cleared his throat. “We’ll see each other soon, right? You know, take care until then… and try not to miss me too much,” he added belatedly with a wink, then burst into laughter. It sounded like birds chirping on a spring day, so joyful and so carefree. “Gosh, that was really bad, wasn’t it?”

“I mean…” you laughed along with him, this new, borderline flirty side of him blooming flowers of hope in your chest. “It was unexpected, but it wasn’t that bad,” you admitted between little fists of laughter, and your lips settled into a gentle smile. You would miss him, you could feel it in your core, but not being able to see him for two weeks before studying together for two years was a little sacrifice compared to what you would get afterwards.

“You too, take care,” you filled the silence before it could stretch further, and this time, it was you who closed the distance and embraced the boy. It was brief, it was a spur-of-a-moment decision, but you didn’t mind. Not when the boy’s face flushed like a torch afterwards and your heart was doing little somersaults. It was all worth it, and there was no denying anymore that you were enchanted by him.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story of mine! Let me know what you think.

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for NCT or for other artists, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Masterlist for the abovementioned request event can be found here.

Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️

[eldritch-spouse]

Morell’s obsession, chewing on a loaf Morell just gave them: I like getting bread

Morell: 👁️👁️

" Getting bread is the best, right? "

Spittle flies everywhere in the kitchen as Morell, who was obliviously taste-testing a soup, hears those words tumble from your mouth. The spoon is set down.

He licks his teeth and turns, wide-eyed, cheeks already acquiring a tint of teal. " Y- Yeah Piglet? "

You blink as you bite your loaf, not understanding why Morell is giving you that crazed look, or why he seems to pant. That's never a good sign. " Mhm. It's my favorite! "

The cook tugs at his scarf and mumbles something incoherent that almost sounds like a hiss before taking a tentative step towards you. He's glad you don't glance down because something's definitely already stirring in his pants.

" Oh, is it...? "

You squint. " You're looking at me weird. "

The chef doesn't really know what to do, approaching you like one does a scared animal, hands itching to grab. " So ah- Ya wanna get bred? I can take care o' dat... "

Looking down at your nearly finished snack, you nod happily at him. Why not? " Yeah, sure! "

The moment he groans, hands bolting to undo his pants like they're burning his skin, is when you realize your fatal mistake.

You wonder how many steps into the warehouse you'd be able to reach before he tackles you to the ground.

[fisherrprince]

aight

medium cheddar: extremely hit or miss. my favorite brand is tillamook and im not biased about it. great to just munch on though, it's not really a cheese that wants or needs anything else. good base ingredient for like a grilled cheese. perfectly average 6/10.

sharp cheddar: i love extra sharp cheddar i love you looong aged white sharp cheddar FANTASTIC snack and best with some sweet apples or something. Needs a cracker or bread or some sweeter snack on the side. coastal cheddar from costco is good but can be a bit too sharp with lots of crystallization. 9/10. 

mozzarella: ok i dont like tillamook for this one. too dry. mozzarella is really not a cheese i like to eat by itself, i'm not a cheese stick fan and i really dislike the texture of wet mozzarella balls, but when it's good melted ON stuff it's good on stuff. 7/10 grilled pizza cheese pull

pepperjack: this is THEEEE cheese to grate for a recipe and sneak like 20 bites of the grated cheese. little pepper bits in there. I don't enjoy eating slices of it though. 7/10

parmesan: you cant go wrong with a little parma jawn............. best as a little accent on top of stuff. just makes whatever you're cooking a lil tastier. Not my favorite when the whole thing tastes of just parmesan though, it's kinda bitey. 8/10

cottage cheese: i cant stand cottage cheese. The texture is nasty and the combo of the texture with the flavor is nastier. 1/10

gruyere: french. INCREDIBLE on potatoes and in fondue and in little bits to snack on. Not an eating by itself cheese often but it doesnt have to be. I'd eat this grated on top of kinda anything savory. 9/10

gouda: i get this mixed up with gruyere all the time, but gouda is a bit harder and sweeter. a good salami cheese for your charcuterie. you see smoked gouda a lot which if thats YOUR deal thats cool but i dislike the taste of smoked things. 7/10

blue cheese: really really good cheese that is stymied by not going with a lot of stuff and not being super good to just eat on its own. it's a SHARP taste that gets in your nose. gorgonzola specifically is so good with pears and arugula except I'm mildly allergic to pears. BEST with steak gimme dat blue cheese butter STEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! would be 9/10 if it were not so particular. 7/10.

feta: bit of a weird texture but it makes salads and gyros ROCK so. it gets a pass. not that fancy on its own but i really do like it in a salad. 6/10. 

cream cheese: YEAAAAHHHHH BAGELLLLSSSS 9/10 i love bagels. also makes other dishes creamy (best part of cheese)

manchego: best with salami. not that impressive on its own, but that's because it's a harder cheese you eat with salami. 5/10, elevates meat but the meat does not elevate it

brie: somehow airplane brie is better than normal brie??? i don't eat this cheese unless it's on an airplane meal fr. which means i hardly ever eat brie. kinda weird tasting. 4/10

camembert: miraculous ladybug hyped me up for this cheese and i bought some and must have done it wrong or something because it doesn't smell and hardly tasted different from brie. I want to try it again so bad because gooey cheeses are like drool-worthy to me. hesitant 3/10 for being a disappointment

asiago: yknow an asiago bread is pretty good but ive never had asiago cheese on its own! 6/10? umami

cotija: BIG FAN of cotija. pile that stuff on my tacos thank you. i dont have the same problems as i do with feta maybe because you grate or crumble cotija real small in comparison? havent had it on anything but a taco though. 8/10 

goat cheese: also a big fan of goat cheese. you can fry it and its good, and you can put it in pasta and its good, you can eat it with crackers and it's good... not really good with meat, but it's sharper so that makes sense to me. 8/10 again

swiss cheese: i never really liked swiss cheese. unless its on my sandwich. OR! unless it's like specifically emmentaler and it's in my fondue. 4/10

provolone: SAME goes for provo LONE. makes french dip really good though, and is one of the classic salami cheeses. this is because it needs salt. 5/10 better than swiss

edam: this is babybel cheese, right? it's fine. good for snacking not for eating a lot of. 7/10

colby jack: this is literally cheddar but not. id rather have cheddar 5/10

ricotta: controversially, i love ricotta... it doesnt have a lot of flavor which makes eating it by itself unpleasant. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!! in lasagne..? on top of sourdough with salt and garlic? in a kolache with jam?? i lvoe ricotta. i wish it didn't go bad so fast. or maybe it came in smaller packages. 8/10

american cheese: the only place this thing shines is ON BURGER. where it SHOULD BE, KIND OF ALWAYS. or on a bacon egg and cheese. those are the two places you always want american. situationally 8/10 but usually 4/10 i dont want it anywhere else

muenster: the best part of eating muenster cheese is eating the little slice that always seems to come off the edge when you take it out the package. otherwise it's a perfectly serviceable mild cheese, melts well, 6/10.

pecorino romano: like, parmesan's sharper saltier more fashion-forward cousin. use this in moderation imo it really has a Big Taste to it, but it makes carbonara nummy, 7/10

paneer: i have not HAD... paneer... but it LOOKS like it would be tasty. withholding judgement. 

gournay: i love those little boursin rounds you can just get at the store with the garlic and herbs. soft, savory, good on crackers 9/10

infused flavor cheeses: these are usually fresh cows milk cheeses that have like some kinda flavor or spice on them or rolled into them. All depends on the flavoring. The base cheese itself is usually real mild and creamy though, and I have good experiences with it! Also goes bad a bit fast though. Variable/10

theres other cheeses out there but i just realized ive been talking about cheese for a LOOONG TIIIMMMEEE. i like cheese though. big fan of it. if u think of some other cheese you really want an opinion on i will readily tell you

[silent-raven13]

The Punks love Sunflower

(All the Hobies are from those concept art designs from the movie. There's many fan arts of them. One being from drenched-in-sunlight on here. I love their artworks.)

Miles never knew he would get this much attention, in fact he never thought he would be considered attractive. He wasn't handsome like Miguel or cute like Pav or cool like his Hobie. But here he is being swarm by multiple Hobies.

Hobie from Earth 138c having long thick locs with a half up half down hairstyle, he holds Miles' hand being romantic: Hello, gorgeous

Miles merely smile: Hello, I'm Miles from-

Hobie from Earth 138d with blond dies spike hair wearing one purple contacts and another black one: HI, Luv. Fancy meeting you here! -being louder and more cheerful out of the three-

Miles turns to him: H-hi! I'm from Ear-

Hobie Earth 138e having box breads with a red hair ties, his voice much deeper and calmer than the three: Black cat. -he's thinking out loud-

Miles: Huh?

Hobie 138e: Black cat... your cute like one... -he flirted-

Hobie 138c: Luv, are you single?

Hobie 138d: I saw him first!

Miles being handle by Hobies almost being too shy to give them an honest answer: Actually I have-

Hobie 138b, Miles' Hobie: Hey, you blokes! what in bloody hell are you doing? Dats my Sunflower! -He scowls being the jealous one- He's mine! -quickly hugging his boyfriend from behind-

The three Hobies laughs being mischievous: You can't have him all to yourself. You have to share! Right, Sunflower!

Miles: Hobie, it's okay. They are new here. -His boyfriend scowling at the three-

Hobie: How in the hell Mr. Grumps allow these blokes here? -hugging Miles tightly hearing the three mocking and flirting with his Miles-

Hobie 138c: Oy, that's insulting, mate. Right, Sunflower?

Hobie 138d laughs: Yeah, don't be a fucking wanker! Oy, sunflower, how about you show me around- you know, just me and you! -he flirted giving a wink-

Hobie 138e: Sunflower, I really like that name. It's perfect for you. -he stares into Miles' doe like eyes- Yet, you look like a deer. Can I call you, Bambi?

Miles: Huh, what? Me, Bambi? I don't think-

Hobie 138e: Bambi! That'll be your name from me to you -he winks at him-

Hobie scowls almost growling: No! His name is Sunflower!

Then the group was unaware of another Spider-Punk coming into the group: Who da fuck is this? -they all turns being surprised at the figure-

Hobie 138 with black hair and light skinned tone stood with his hands on his hips.

Miles: Oh, you're Hobie 138, huh! Miguel told me, you would arrived today! -his eyes big almost gleaming which caught off Hobie 138 off guard-

Hobie 138 crosses his arms being more of a jerk: Pfft, that's arse. Fuck, him. I got scold because I killed a dump anomaly.

Hobie 138c: Pfft, figures.

Hobie 138 looks at Miles: I'ma call you, Kat.

Miles: Huh?

Hobie scowls at Hobie 138: Da fuck you are. He's mine

Hobie 138's eyes darken: Huh? Are you telling me what to do? -These anarchist never likes being told what to do- I can call him whatever da fuck I want, mate! Right, Kat!

Miles: why Kat?

Hobie 138: Because you look like a cat!

Miles saw Hobie 138e chuckles: So I've been told...

Hobie picks up his Miles: He's mine! You blokes can't have him! -he runs off with Miles. The others follow him-

From afar Peter B. Parker arched his eyebrows at Miguel: I thought you hate Hobie.

Miguel: I don't hate him. He's a pain in the ass. It's good he gets humble. -slurping his milkshake-

Peter: That's why you invited all these punk spider people?

Miguel: Hobie needs to learn. -he slurps his milkshake-

Peter: Huh uh, so... Punk Miguel is part of your plan?

Miguel arched his eyebrow: Who?

Peter points at a younger Miguel dressed in punk fashion: Him!

Miguel: Fuck... -he forgot to double check the invite list-

Hobie runs holding Miles until Punk Miguel pick Miles from his arm: AYE! Who da fuck are you?

Punk Miguel speaking Spanish growing up in Mexico: Oye, este hombre te está molestando? -talking to Miles-

Miles' eyes widen at the tall younger Miguel. 18 year old Miguel O'Hara with a bit darker hair, dark brown eyes and piercings. His skin tone a bit darker than Miguel 2099: No-no, estoy bien!

All the Hobies stop scowling at Punk Miguel: Oy! Who da hell is him? -they already don't like Miguel 2099, now there's another him!-

Punk Miguel: Qué? -not great with English especially British. Hell, he hardly understand them- No entiendo.

Miles: Okay, everyone calm down! Let's be rea-

Hobie 138: Your a fucking poser, mate! Take that shit off! -pointing at Miguel's black leather jacket-

Punk Miguel scowls: Qué dijiste? -He knows what poser is and he hates that fucking word.-

Miles: Hey, guys! How about-

Punk Miguel place a kiss on Miles' cheek, all the Hobies glares harshly at him: Lo quieres? ¡Ven a por él! -he begins running while holding Miles just to pissed them off-

The Hobies chase after that asshole while Miles practically fainted by the drama: I give up!

Peter turns to Miguel 2099: Was this part of your plan?

Miguel sighs: No...

(Part 2)

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

can you explain why you dont believe the titanic switch conspiracy theory? didnt they find a propeller with "olympic" written on it amongst the wreckage?

i feel like the phrase "you just activated my trap card" applies here but i have also never watched yu-gi-oh so dont fully know the correct use of that. anyway whats the text limit on a tumblr post because i think i might hit it with this response.

before we begin (if you wanna join me on this fucking journey), ill just drop some useful sources on the topic:

olympic & titanic - an analysis of the robin gardiner conspiracy theory dissertation by mark chirnside in july 2006

titanic or olympic: which ship sank? by steve hall and bruce beveridge

olympic & titanic: the truth behind the conspiracy by steve hall and bruce beveridge

with that shipkeeping housekeeping out of the way, lets jump into it after the cut

so hands up, how many people knew that this theory originated in a book from 1995?

yeah, its a pretty modern theory considering titanic sank in 1912. the theory originated in the riddle of the titanic by robin gardiner and dan van der dat.

and the theory argues that the ships were switched and titanic (actually olympic) was deliberately sank as part of an insurance scam. now they didnt do this at all for shits and giggles. instead, the theory posits that the navy enquiry that followed the 1911 collision between hms hawke and olympic was biased which meant white star line couldnt recover the costs of repair from lloyds (the insurance company), and therefore, they wrote olmpic off as too damaged to be repaired, lied about the amount of damage, switched the ships and sank olympic disguised as titanic to recover some costs.

far-fetched? oh definitely and it gets worse, but ill leave that til later in this gargantuan response because its really fucking funny.

(seriously, i recommend you read til the end or just skip to the part where i start talking about the sinking itself because fam, gardiners theory gets wild )

according to van der dat, who is a dutch journalist and naval history writer with an incredibly dutch name, gardiner had wrote the manuscript after researching the titanic for however many years and sent it to his literary agent. this agent had previously worked with van der dat and so sent it to him to double-check the information by going back to the original sources. he then rewrote the book with line-by-line consultation with gardiner.

and would you like to hear a quote from van der dat regarding the theory? i think you would:

"the publishers were disillusioned when the theory did not stand up"

he also, in correspondence with titanic author and researcher paul lee, called it "bilge" which is a fun ship joke alongside calling the theory bullshit.

anyway, the publishers went ahead with the book anyway because fuck integrity, i guess... thats kinda harsh considering this first book (oh yeah, theres more) was praised for stellar research and for being balanced, and the final chapter of the book literally acknowledges that the wreck has titanics shipyard number (401) on it, hence disproving the theory.

in 1997, it was published in the us under the name the titanic conspiracy - cover-ups and mysteries of the worlds most famous sea disaster, and it sold like sliced bread in 1928 because 1997 was titanic fever, baby!

unsurprisingly, gardiner's following books (titanic: the ship that never sank? in 1998; the history of the white star line in 2001; the great titanic conspiracy in 2010) were a lot less well-received and were not co-authored by van der dat.

-

"but wait, kai!" you might shout if youre up to date with issues of the times from 1914, "what about raymond asquith's comments? he was junior counsel for the board of trade at the sinking inquiry!"

and i would say, what about it? the letter asquith wrote to the times was a sarcastic letter in response to a prior stance taken by the paper.

yes, he said "the architect, the owner, and the captain to repair their desperate fortunes by sinking the ship and sharing the insurance money" but said letter also included the phrase "manipulating dummy icebergs".

if were taking sarcastic or satirical responses outside of their original contexts as serious quotes, then i guess i need to cancel my dropout subscription since the company holds the opinion that oj simpson is innocent.

and while were here, that single deathbed confession from james fenton is not evidence of anything. his name is not on any crew lists or survivor lists, and not a single payment was ever claimed by a crewman called james fenton. he was not on board the titanic and his claims hold no weight.

-

now, my go-to explanation as to why i dont believe the switch theory is that their insurance scam would have lost them money and they would know that it would have lost them money.

see, it cost white star (which was a subsidiary of the international mercantile marine) £1.5million/$7.5million to build titanic and they insured it by lloyds (you can check their records on their website) for £1million/$5million.

you dont have to be good at maths to see a problem here.

they didnt just not insure the rest; it was self-insured by imm's insurance fund, but that still means theyd have lost £500,000/$2.5million on the sunken ship.

this whole insurance thing was established by uh the united states senate inquiry report:

"the vessel fully equipped, cost £1,500,000 sterling, or about $7,500,000. at the time of the accident the vessel carried insurance of £1,000,000 sterling or about $5,000,000, the remaining risk being carried by the company's insurance fund."

oh and the £1,000,009 insurance was announced in the daily mirror on 16th april 1912

and the insurance scam seemingly thought up by someones whose first and only introduction to maths was golf isnt the only way white star would have lost money on this.

after the sinking, olympic was temporarily pulled from service to increase safety measures like adding more lifeboats. obviously, a logical move made by a company with a brand new, safer ship on their hands who were desperate for any money they can make.

white star also halted construction of britannic, titanics other sister ship, in order to alter the design and make it safer. this costs quite a bit of money and is, again, an odd choice for a company apparently desperate for money.

-

and hey, question for you guys: if you were alive in 1913 and needed to cross the atlantic, would you

a) choose the near identical sister ship of that ship that sank last year and was the deadliest sinking of a ship at that time

or

b) choose any other option such as the lusitania or the mauretania or the ss france or the ss imperator

personally id take my chances with option a, idk about you

yeah so the point im making here is that the sinking of the titanic was what the kids say

a marketing disaster

it was the loss of the newest flagship on its maiden fucking voyage and it had been touted as "practically unsinkable". maybe just maybe people wouldnt feel that comfortable getting on a white star line ship after that.

i dont have any figures for you because reading through a detailed account of white stars history just is not on my to-do list, but that doesnt even matter. what matters is that its clearly a massive risk and who the fuck is taking that risk?

as titanic author, senan molony states:

"one doesnt need to compare designs and count portholes - a moments serious consideration of the reputational risk involved - individually and collectively - is all that is required to end any entertainment of the notion"

-

anyway, you guys wanna compare designs and count portholes? yeah? okay, here we go!

may i present a non-exhaustive list of differences between the ships:

olympics wheelhouse was curved; titanics was flat

titanic was 4 inches longer

the porthole arrangements on shelter deck c were different

on b deck, olympic had a 1st class promenade; titanic had 2 private verandahs and suites (put a pin in this by the way, it comes back in the best of ways)

titanic had additional cabins on promenade deck a

olympics promenade was open all the way along; on titanic, the forward half of the 1st class promenade on a-deck was enclosed with retractable glass screens

on titanic, the forward bridge wings aft docking bridge on the stern extended over the ships side by a couple of feet; this would not be true for olympic until the 1912/13 refit

the officers deck house was pushed out more on titanic

the iron gates of the elevators were different between the ships and this is evident in the wreck itself

their propellers had different pitches and hence not interchangeable (pitch is a theoretical concept which is like the distance a propeller would move if it turned once through something solid, yeah i dont know either)

the wireless cabin had an outside window on olympic, but not titanic

further, it was placed on the port side of the officers deck house on olympic but amidship on titanic

they had different air vent arrangements around the funnels

white star line cut the ships names into the shell-plating at the bow and stern, four feet high and a ½ inch deep

now, please, close your eyes, take a deep breath and consider how much money it would cost to switch just the list above. now compare all of that to the -£500,000/$2.5million youre losing in the insurance scam.

truly, a spend less on candles situation.

and while we're here, shall we quickly talk about how much hush money white star would be paying to silence everyone about this since its apparently an illegal insurance scam.

not to make another non-exhaustive list but heres just who i can think of that youd have to silence:

the 15,000 workers employed directly by the shipyard

the 20,000+ workers in support services or sub contractors

any permanent or casual staff at the belfast dock and harbour comission

all of the officers and crew who came directly from olympic onto titanic such as the captain or stewardess violet jessop (puppet history fans rise up) who interestingly remarked on how improved titanic was compared to olympic

any staff at white star, imm and harland & wolff (where she was built) who would be in the know such as designers

passengers who had previously sailed on olympic who then sailed on titanic

just like anyone in belfast who walked past while the ships were docked together

olympics wreckers: thomas wards & sons who kept huge loose-leaf ledgers for each ships. the one for olympic was 72 pages long and funnily enough olympics yard number and builders I'd frequently appear in it, as seen below

bob ballard who was the one who found titanic. hes known as a very honest man and didnt even claim salvage rights on titanic because he assumed everyone else would also recognise it was a gravesite. he also said "i think it is the titanic at the bottom of the ocean"

every other explorer or researcher like james fucking cameron or us navy consultant and titanic wreck explorer, parks stephenson

its been estimated likely over 60,000 people were involved in just the building of titanic. this was ⅕ of belfasts population and ⅓ of the working population. heres a photo of them leaving olympic at the end of the day

now maybe im just a fool, but that looks like a lot of people you need to silence, and unless white star were blackmailing them or idk fucking killing them i guess, thats a lot of hush money just in the photo above.

i mean, theres also the claim, from noted liar james fenton, that the surviving crew were forced to sign the official secrets act of 1911, but that act was about espionage that benefits the enemy military so im not sure how this is relevant to the switch, and also, again, the guy was never on the ship.

are you perhaps starting to get the picture as to why i dont believe the conspiracy theory because im still going.

-

okay so as established, if the ships were switched, there would have clearly been a lot of work that would need to be done to switch the ships.

and i only mentioned some of the structural differences, i didnt get into the aesthetic differences like the floor tiles and carpeting being different colours, or how the lounge furniture in each ship having the ship name on them.

mind you, this is what titanic looked like (in the foreground) when olympic was first docked next to her:

this was taken around october 11. olympic docked next to titanic on october 7th for repairs after that whole catastrophic collision.

now how much time do you think it was before olympic sailed away? mind you, titanic has already been launched at this point and just needs to be fitted-out, and that normally takes around 4 to 6 months?

oh, what was that? 44 days? why, kid, youre going somewhere. it was 44 days exactly!

now, i dont think i need to get into the fact that the dock only had 1 crane (which you needed to install and uninstall funnels and machinery) that physically couldnt reach olympic unless she was moved or how olympic was painted white for her launch and then painted black and that the white paint would get exposed in rough weather so the same would have to be applied to titanic so it would look convincingly like olympic.

i mean, you have that information now, but im hoping just by the words "44 days", you might get how off the wall insane it is to suggest white star was able to switch the ships so well no one noticed for decades in 44 fucking days.

"wait kai, youre forgetting that they were docked together again!" you shout, "after olympic threw a propeller, they were docked together from march 1st to march 7th 1912"

and i dont know dude, im pretty sure white star cant warp space time so i really dont know what eight extra days is gonna do.

i hate to strawman but man, the late robin gardiner would have won a gold medal in scarecrow hide and seek.

-

lets also take a quick detour into the idea that olympics repairs were so expensive.

without getting into gardiners claims about the damage because theres no evidence of it and as mark chirnside states "there are no credible sources indicating that the damage to olympic was worse than reported at the time - and indeed ample sworn expert testimony to the contrary", lets just quickly go over some financial stuff.

during the case, it was unofficially estimated that the damage didnt exceed $125,000. imm, by including lost passenger receipts, wanted to claim for as high as $750,000, but they lost that case.

during the year 1911, imms surplus profit was $822,062. so weve got:

750,000 > 822,062

now as we might remember from key stage 1 maths, the bigger number eats the smaller number, aka, their surplus profit covered the costs of repair.

aka, no ill-advised insurance scam needed.

-

"thousands of people in belfast would have seen the switch operation - and yet there is not one word in the papers of reporters or photographers rushing out to find out what was happening."

-dr paul lee

so this is the section where i ask how did no one fucking notice?

no one on titanic, who had previously sailed on olympic, ever said anything about the switch other than one guy who was literally not on the ship at any point.

no one who has ever explored the wreck or done research on it has definitively stated it was olympic. rather, they have definitively stated otherwise.

for example, what remains of the base on the wheelhouse shows it to be straight and not curved, and as you might remember: titanics wheelhouse was heterosexual straight and olympics was curved.

(id be impressed if you did remember)

also, as parks stephenson has stated:

"weve got actual high def images of this wreck. ive seen with my own eyes. weve identified the name titanic on the port bow"

its difficult to make out but its there; the name is on the fucking ship.

also, as you might remember, titanics b-deck was different to olympics. the 2 suites there were nicknamed the "millionaire suites" and jim cameron has used rovs to go inside of them.

funnily enough, robin gardiner has gone on the record saying that these suites didnt exist so make of that what you will.

and further, no one noticed anything about olympic even though she sailed for 24 more years. theres no written record of anything, theres nothing in the board of trade reports, theres no photographic proof and theres not even fucking hearsay.

she served as a damn troopship in ww1, youd figure someone would figure it out as all of her fittings were ripped out.

but no, theres nothing.

as i mentioned above, olympic was scrapped in 1935, but some of her fittings were auctioned off and still exist today. and these have the number 400 on them because that was her shipyard number. titanics was 401 and the wreck reflects this also:

the wooden parts are from olympic; the other has been salvaged from titanics wreck.

theres even the famous myth that olympic or olympus as one person told me is written on the propeller at the bottom of the ocean. its not, but you can see the number 401 written on it:

-

and while were disproving myths about the name olympic being on the titanic, the story about olympic being engraved on titanics lifeboats is also false:

theres no written testimony, no sketches and no photographs of this.

white star didnt engrave names onto lifeboats, the names were on metal plates that were screwed on

do you really think they did all of this work but just didnt fucking swap the lifeboats? if theyre this stupid, how did it take until 1995 for someone to figure it out?

-

we can also discuss the stupid olympic room thing while were here. see theres a maritime superstition that changing the name on a ship is bad luck and obviously, if youre swapping the ships, youre changing the names.

so to... get around this? cheat luck? outsmart superstition? i dont fucking know, to take a detour to avoid this, white star named a room "the olympic room."

i cannot find any evidence at all that this room ever existed. its not in the design plans or the blueprints, and no passenger or crew has ever said it existed, so im pretty sure the room just didnt exist.

and even if it did exist, titanic was in the olympic class of ships. thats what olympic, titanic and britannic were. its not weird to have an olympic room on an olympic class ship. i mean it is weird in this case since the room didnt exist, but you get my point.

-

and heres some quickfire myths and falsehoods

the myth about the 14 vs 16 bow portholes is also a false. yes, titanic had 14 portholes on launch but an extra 2 were added before her maiden voyage so yes, the ship photographed departing southampton with 16 bow portholes is the titanic, and do you really think it would take 83 years to figure this out if it was this easy?

similarly, titanic did have evenly spaced b-deck windows on launch, but then the extra verandahs and suites were added so the window configuration was altered, so that photograph is off the titanic.

the idea that titanic had a 2 degree list to port like the olympic before her is evidence of the switch theory is, to borrow a word from dan van der dat, bilge. plenty of ships at the time and now have minor lists. the one on titanic was only recorded by 2 passengers and we know that the list was related to coal consumption. it means nothing.

jp morgan (owner of imm) did not cancel last minute. as mark baber points out on encyclopedia titanica, it was announced in the new york times that hed be in venice on april 23. at that time, transatlantic voyages took at least 5 days so it would at least be a 10 day round trip and likely not give him time to get to venice for the opening of a store of whatever it was.

also, j bruce ismays wife and kids also didnt cancel last minute. theyd already decided to go on holiday to wales rather than sail on titanic.

addendum to that point: if ismay knew it was going to be sank deliberately and so warned his wife, why would he get on board himself? further, why would harland and wolff designer thomas andrews (who did not survive by the way) get on board?

-

and we're finally at my favourite part of this entire mess: the sinking itself.

see, a deliberate sinking doesnt really make sense for titanic because the conditions under which she sank has led to the descriptor "freak sinking."

these are: a new moon meaning less light, unusually calm ocean that disallowed lookouts to watch for foam as waves hit any icebergs, ice having drifted further south than normal for that time of year, and a sideways glancing blow that breached more watertight compartments than the ship could handle and stay afloat.

and idk dude, is there not an easier way? like maybe some light arson. just call it an accidental fire that got out of control and led to the ship being a write-off, this isnt difficult.

but you see gardiner has an answer to this, and i am laughing as im typing this, he claims that:

titanic didnt hit an iceberg, it hit an imm rescue ship.

thats right, this guy fully says titanic didnt hit an iceberg. apparently it hit another ship and NO ONE FUCKING NOTICED

i mean we have testimony from survivors but fuck them i guess.

he claims that as titanic was apparently a "steel double-hulled vessel" so an iceberg simply couldnt inflict so much damage.

yeah titanic wasnt double-hulled. she had a double bottom, but it was only after titanic that shipbuilders were like ah maybe full double hulls arent an unnecessary expense after all.

theres also the issue of uh no evidence of this rescue ship ever existing? at all? i dont know where it came from, i dont know where it went, and who fucking knows, maybe it was called the rms cotton eyed joe.

yeah so weve got a theory riddled with problems and im just gonna introduce some more problems with this theory as gardiner has also alleged that:

the original plan was to open the seacocks and slowly flood the ship, but this was interrupted by titanic hitting another ship

1) titanic didnt have seacocks? and 2) was the rest of it a coincidence then? i think its meant to be a coincidence.

i believe his theory is alleging that the crew on titanic would open the seacocks that didnt exist to flood the ship slowly, and that the imm rescue ship that also didnt exist was in the area in advance to help evacuate passengers, alongside other ships such as the ss californian.

this is that ship that was like 10 miles away or something and didnt respond to titanics distress signals. according to gardiner, they were expecting a rendezvous with titanic according to the "original plan", but never received it.

instead, they saw the rockets of the fabled imm rescue ship and helped them instead.

this is fucking stupid.

i cant be charitable here, its a fucking stupid theory. i mean, that imm ship did not exist, and also californian is a ridiculous choice for a rescue ship. her capacity was 47 passengers and 55 crew; there were more than 2200 people on board titanic.

to counteract this argument, gardiner alleges carpathia was also in on the scheme as a rescue ship. she, at least, had capacity for the passengers, but theres also several problems with this too.

for one, it was fucking 50 miles away and famously arrived several hours after the sinking even though the captain had her running at top speed to get there.

for two, carpathia was owned by cunard, white stars rival. was their rival line in on the insurance scam??? how much money did they have to pay cunard for this????? why? just why?

do you understand why i dont believe it? please tell me you understand. i need you to understand. i need you to tell me that you understand that the guy who created this conspiracy claimed titanic didnt hit an iceberg.

[a-roguish-gambit]

Completely off topic but Kurt absolutely is a big part of the furry community he just shows up to conventions as himself and takes pictures with people, some people have made OCS based off of him and he loves it it's so nice to see people who want to look like him. It gets to the point he becomes an influencer among furriers entirely on accident by just existing and being nice and queer positive. He shows off all the saint Bernards at the monastery where he lives (cause he literally lives at a swiss monastery that saves tourists in the mountains, they probably were one of the OGs who bred the dog in the first place) sometimes he has 3 am live streams where he bakes bread for the monastery and local homeless shelter and answers questions about mutants.

His sister and her husband have to take him to the big US cons once he starts getting invited cause the US is huge and scary to even consider navigating for short fuzzy Europeans like him. Rogue and Gambit just kinda shrug there shoulders about it. I feel like rogue is a bit weirded out by furries at first cause all she knew was the sex stuff but gets used to it quickly. Starts calling furries "care bears" cause of the big cute costumes and how huggy they are. Gambit doesn't mind but it's not really his thing. "Gambit seen weirder shit on Bourbon Street and nobody seems to care about dat. Don't get why people think these Disney world rejects are creepy." He uses the opportunity to get some new bedroom toys when they have to chauffeur him around to a con. Also they get essentially a free hotel room through Kurt so they can fuck off and have their own vacation in the city while he's doing con stuff.

Kurt took beast with him one time but poor guy got overwhelmed. People liked him so much he had to duck out. "So many requests for hugs! And dates...I'm not used to humans not screaming and running from me...what do I do with all these numbers all these people are expecting me to call them!!!" He finds the super science nerd side of the furry fandom though and is just like "my people". He does not understand half of the lingo but starts making regular appearances with Kurt.

One day they accidentally run into jubilee at one on the new york cons. She tries to play it off that she's here for a friend but she's literally carrying a bag with paw gloves. Eventually she caves and is just like "ok I watched too much Disney's robin hood growing up...."

[basu-shokikita]

Kloktober 23 Day 26

Pick a tarot card for inspiration

I actually had another draft I was planning to continue today but I scratched it and started over because I wasn't satisfied with it. And yeah, I do like this better, I think.

Have some young pre-Dethklok Toki for tarot card day!

“Um…I don’t haves money…” Toki said, but the lady dragged him all the same. 

“Shush.” She waved her hand dismissively, before returning to her cards. “This vision is really strong.” She shuffled her cards intensely before spreading them all face-down on her table. Then, she closed her eyes and her hand began hovering over the cards.

Toki swallowed nervously. It was getting dark and he was walking on the streets when this random old lady told him he needed to get a reading and dragged him inside her stand. What he actually needed was some food because he was starving. He wondered if he could beg for scraps at the bakery again. That one girl was really nice to him…

“Ah!” The old lady opened her eyes and dragged one of the cards, staring at it with a wise smile. “I knew it.” She said, before showing it to him.

In it, there was an illustration of a naked woman and man standing beside each other in what seemed to be a field. At the bottom of the card, there were two words.

“De Lovers?” Toki asked, extremely confused. 

“Yes.” She was still smiling. “Signifies love and harmony. A beautiful connection is upon you, my little…” She stopped, blinking. “What is your name, young one?”

“Uh, Toki.”

“Toki.” She repeated calmly. Suddenly, she clasped his hands tightly. “You’re about to meet your soulmate, Toki. Be very aware of your surroundings today! It’s the most important relationship of your life!”

Startled, Toki looked at the card, hanging at the corner of the table and threatening to fall. While he considered himself a romantic, he was highly skeptical of this whole thing. “Um, ladies, dat ams impossible.” He finally managed.

She let go of him, raising an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“Wells…” Toki forced a smile. “Ams just a homeless boy. I don’t has a house, or foods. I don’t even has clothes.” He pointed at his stained shirt. “Ams just mes and my guitars.”

Her expression went from shocked, to horrified, to finally disgusted. He was pretty used to that reaction, to people dehumanizing him the moment they found out about his circumstances. Normal people hated the homeless, after all. 

Clearing her throat, she faked a smile. “Oh, that’s…” She stretched the collar of her shirt awkwardly. “That’s strange, haha…Lady Fortune is never wrong.” She looked at the card, as if it was disgusting too and shoved it on Toki’s hand. “You can keep it, but I’m waiting for some clients so…” She made a gesture with her eyes.

Toki nodded. “Okays.” He said, shoving the card in his pocket. “Um, thanks.” He said, even though he hadn’t asked for any of it in the first place.

As soon as he turned around, he heard her spray perfume on her table. Again, he was used to it, but it still stung a little. 

Back in the streets, he got the card out of his pocket to look at it. The illustration was pretty cool, he wondered if he could sell it somehow. Maybe he could trade it to the nice bakery lady for a couple of breads?

He noticed one edge of the card being split, though, which seriously undermined his chances at being able to trade it for anything valuable. Curiosity got the better of him, however, and he tried to separate the ends, only to realize there was a card stuck under. 

This card had a different illustration, of a lady pouring water into a puddle of sorts with one hand, the other one pouring water on the ground, with a starry sky in the background. The bottom text read “The Star”. 

Well, guess the silver-lining of not having money was that you couldn’t get scammed because, what the hell. Not that he had believed the lady at all but was she really going around trying to convince people they were about to meet the love of their life? That was just…lame.

On the other hand, he now had two different cards he could trade for possibly food now. That was pretty good. Perhaps the forced fortune-reading had been the fortune in itself. If everything went well, he could share some of his dinner with the kitty cats from around the area.

A booming noise from nearby distracted him and he looked up, tucking the cards safely in his front pocket this time. It was coming from a bar, blaring lights accompanying the loud bass noise. A menu board outside read “Free entry! Rock music all night!” with drawings of guitars and thunders around the text.

These days, anything that had the word ‘free’ caught Toki’s attention instinctively. And there was a crowd forming outside, which only intrigued him more. Leather jackets, spider hair, dark make-up, he could only imagine the music being played was good to attract these types.

Swiftly, he pushed and squeezed himself until he got inside, merely avoiding a couple of bulky dudes about to fight at the entrance. Perks of being small and malnutritioned, he supposed. 

The people inside were crowded around the empty stage, booing and cheering simultaneously.

“Who ams playings?” He asked the guy next to him. He was bald but had a piercing on his nose. 

“Dethklok!” He said. “They aren’t all that great but they have a cult forming around them these days. Probably because they have that guy from Snakes n Barrels.” He snorted. “Bunch of-”

Suddenly, the lights went out and the crowd went insane. Toki was a little nervous so he unhooked his guitar from his back and grabbed it. He really couldn’t afford to get it repaired at the moment so he might as well take care of it.

Five figures walked on the stage and, after a short introduction by the vocalist that Toki could hardly understand anyway, they started playing. Their music was loud, powerful, unrefined. The crowd started dancing with the beats, pushing one another with the rhythm of the music. 

Lights went on and off as the five men on stage demonstrated their craft. The vocalist roared against the mic, black hair, muscly and intimidating. The red-haired drummer beat his arms and legs against the instrument with a force that could only be described as violent. The rhythm guitar played soberly, knowingly, as he was looking down on the audience. Oh, and they also had a bassist. 

But the real star of the show for Toki was the all-white dressed lead guitarist, whose blond locks covered his face as he headbanged, fingers sliding against the guitar strings as if he were born for this. 

Toki had listened to a bunch of guitarists in his short life, especially of the metal genre. This guy, however, had a different kind of energy. Like an aura of holiness surrounded him and his mighty-shredding axe. It was both beautiful and entracing and Toki felt like he had to get closer. He wasn’t even scared of getting hit by the moshpit, he just needed to be closer and witness his guitar God in all his glory.

He shoved and elbowed his way in, managing to stand right in front of him. Like a flash, blue eyes gazed at him, but they were gone, the golden curtain covering his face again. It was like a spark for Toki, though, like electricity spreading through his body, rendering him to life. He was alive and awake and he needed to play guitar with this man. 

It was ridiculous, but the cards flashed in his mind for a brief second, and he wondered if the old lady had accidentally predicted his future after all.

[asklaeavaldezandkymmiejackson]

Hi! My name is Kymmie Jackson, daughter of Percy Jackson + Annabeth Chase. You might’ve heard of them? They saved the world like… a lot. Other than that, I like surfing, talkin’ to my fish buds, watching disney movies… creating tumblr accounts without Chiron’s permission. Anyways- excited to answer questions and stuff!

(PS here’s a picture of me)

Sup. I’m Aglaea Valdez. But you can call me- Laea. I’m a daughter of Hephaestus. Not the sister of Leo Valdez. Well. Not the full sister of Leo Valdez. Obviously we have the same father. But like- you know. Our mom’s are different. He just like adopted me… kinda? So I’m a mechanic, inventor, cyborg thing. I run a cult of fish whose main objective is worshiping the granddaughter of Poseidon.

(I’m not going to subject you to looking at my face. My younger self is on the account profile though.)

Helloo~ I’m Risa Valdez. The daughter of (dat boi) Leo Valdez!🔥 Fun facts about me, I have a mechanical arm- I used to be a mechanic but got bored of that and decided to be a ✨DESIGNER✨. Not to brag but the Hephaestus cabin says I can bake a delicious concha bread. Cannot wait to answer your questions. (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Good morning, afternoon and evening to all you lovely people reading this. My name is Asmodeus, the cabin 10 counsellor. In my free time, I like to workout. Especially sparring with the Ares kids. I enjoy long walks on the beach with my best friend Jason Chase. But enough about me! I would love to get to know you all better!

That’s me. 6’9. If you’re interested. ;)

Jason Chase(19M). Currently on a quest. Son of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Named after Jason Grace. Don’t question why me and my sister have different names. It’s just a thing my parents decided. 🙂👍🐠